Domaine Lignier-Michelot

The 2014 Gevrey Chambertin Cuvée Bertin includes 40% whole cluster fruit this year. Lovely transparency on the nose here, whereby cold stone/granite scents suffuse that black pastille-like fruit. The palate is supple on the entry, rounded in the mouth with fleshy red cherries and strawberry, although it is missing just a little backbone on the finish. Drink 2016-2022
88/90 Neal Martin eRobertParker.com #222 Dec 2015

Mostly from les Seuvrées adjacent to Morey St Denis. Dense dark inky, little touch of reduction, real energy to this, more black fruit but good acidity.
Jasper Morris MW – Wine Buyer

Bright purple with a deep centre, this has plump, chunky, sumptuous fruit, offering a delicious mouthfeel – especially through the middle of the palate, as is the way with vineyards called Les Charmes. There is a little structure behind, with a long finish on dark red fruit. Drink 2020-2024

When Virgile Lignier came back from his brief summer holidays, he toured the vines and saw a bit of rot on a biggish (by recent standards) crop, so he took a substantial team round to remove damaged bunches and anything unripe. He picked the healthy grapes from 17th September and gave the new vintage a long but light extraction. He has made some very succulent, juicy wines here in 2014.

Morey-St Denis, Les Faconnières offers a dense, purple colour with an almost black centre. Virgile considers the soil to be similar to Clos de la Roche. It is more backward than the other Premiers Crus, dense and ungiving at this stage yet with a magical intensity of fruit, a crunchy finish, and excellent balance. Drink 2002-2028

When Virgile Lignier came back from his brief summer holidays, he toured the vines and saw a bit of rot on a biggish (by recent standards) crop, so he took a substantial team round to remove damaged bunches and anything unripe. He picked the healthy grapes from 17th September and gave the new vintage a long but light extraction. He has made some very succulent, juicy wines here in 2014. 

Bright, mid-purple colour, this has a more linear, mineral nose, compared to the flesh of Les Charmes. Indeed this is quite chiselled by Virgile’s standards. The fruit offers a raspberry and fresh blackberry mix. The chalky soil shows in this very mineral wine, which has a delightful finish. Drink 2021-2026

When Virgile Lignier came back from his brief summer holidays, he toured the vines and saw a bit of rot on a biggish (by recent standards) crop, so he took a substantial team round to remove damaged bunches and anything unripe. He picked the healthy grapes from 17th September and gave the new vintage a long but light extraction. He has made some very succulent, juicy wines here in 2014.

Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Virgile went through the vineyards 15 days before harvest, removing the leaves on the south side and taking away anything that was rotten. This kept his crop in good condition so he could afford to wait for full ripeness, not starting until 11th October. He then practised very gentle extraction to keep the tannins supple. He compares 2013 to 2008 but with greater richness of fruit. The crop is 15-to-20% up on 2012 but still well below normal.

 

The clay in the soil here gives a depth of flavour and a roundness of style to this wine. It is pure purple in colour, with a lovely generosity of fruit, yet still with the freshness of the vintage. Very pure and long.
Jasper Morris MW – Wine Buyer

Virgile Lignier’s favourite Premier Cru, we suspect. A touch of toast up front, but the bouquet is otherwise deep and detailed, with a marvellous mix of fruit, acidity and judicious oaking.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Virgile went through the vineyards 15 days before harvest, removing the leaves on the south side and taking away anything that was rotten. This kept his crop in good condition so he could afford to wait for full ripeness, not starting until 11th October. He then practised very gentle extraction to keep the tannins supple. He compares 2013 to 2008 but with greater richness of fruit. The crop is 15-to-20% up on 2012 but still well below normal.
 

A blend of Chabiots, Chatelots and Sentiers, this is a truly beautiful expression of Chambolle in the mouth with great precision, fresh and mineral, yet ripe and lovely. 
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer

Virgile went through the vineyards 15 days before harvest, removing the leaves on the south side and taking away anything that was rotten. This kept his crop in good condition so he could afford to wait for full ripeness, not starting until 11th October. He then practised very gentle extraction to keep the tannins supple. He compares 2013 to 2008 but with greater richness of fruit. The crop is 15-to-20% up on 2012 but still well below normal.
 

From Les Drazey (65 years old) and Les Gamaires (52 years old) vineyards, blended during vinification. Dense, vibrant dark black fruit, with good acidity behind, making up a compelling cuvee, lightly dusted with 30% new wood.
Jasper Morris MW – Wine Buyer

Fine mid-purple, there’s a touch of oak on the nose mixed in with the fruit. The wine had 50 percent whole-bunch fermentation, with old-vine fruit. Quite full, this is a rounded, approachable, gracious Morey-St Denis with persistence. Drink 2021-2027.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

Virgile Lignier began picking on 9th September, bringing in normal yields if a bit below 2014. Virgile reports small berries, an entirely healthy crop, potentially as good as 2005 but with a better quality of tannins. He worked on very careful extraction to manage them, using a bit more whole-cluster (especially with old vines on clay rich soil), longer cuvaison, but no punching down except at the very end of fermentation. He uses 30 percent new wood throughout the cellar.

This is a blend of three lieux-dits: Bons Bâtons, Champs Perdrix and Les Hâtes. Production is down about 20 percent, but the lovely quality fruit permitted 50 percent whole-bunch and 30 percent new oak, almost like a village wine. With charming cherry and red fruit, it has a neat, compact finish. Well made. Drink 2019-2024.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

Virgile Lignier started working alongside his father in 1988, really taking charge from 2000, by which time all the wines were being bottled at the domaine. Significant advances were made in the vineyards, reducing yields and ploughing the soil, along with the introduction of a sorting table and a higher percentage of new wood in the cellar. The domaine has an exemplary range of Morey- St Denis vineyards, supplemented by one or two cuvées from neighbouring villages. By his own admission, in his early days Virgile Lignier looked for too much extraction from his wines. The tide began to turn in 2006 and today he is very comfortable in his style. He does like to look for good levels of maturity and he waited just a day or two more than his neighbours to pick, beginning on 29th September and finishing on 3rd October in his Faconnières vineyard. He likes long skin contact, starting at a cool temperature, but with limited pumping over. Virgile is perfectly satisfied with his results in 2016, but did remark that it was hard work getting to what was eventually a very healthy harvest.

Virgile’s expertise was tested here, as these lower- lying vineyards (Les Seuvrées and Les Murots) were attacked aggressively by mildew. He has, however, emerged with honour, as this is good, honest Gevrey, built in a lighter but appealing frame. Drink 2020-2026.
Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

Virgile Lignier started working alongside his father in 1988, really taking charge from 2000, by which time all the wines were being bottled at the domaine. Significant advances were made in the vineyards, reducing yields and ploughing the soil, along with the introduction of a sorting table and a higher percentage of new wood in the cellar. The domaine has an exemplary range of Morey- St Denis vineyards, supplemented by one or two cuvées from neighbouring villages. By his own admission, in his early days Virgile Lignier looked for too much extraction from his wines. The tide began to turn in 2006 and today he is very comfortable in his style. He does like to look for good levels of maturity and he waited just a day or two more than his neighbours to pick, beginning on 29th September and finishing on 3rd October in his Faconnières vineyard. He likes long skin contact, starting at a cool temperature, but with limited pumping over. Virgile is perfectly satisfied with his results in 2016, but did remark that it was hard work getting to what was eventually a very healthy harvest.