2018 Clos Vougeot, Grand Cru, Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair, Burgundy
Critics reviews
A heady dark colour, with quite a high-toned, slightly volatile bouquet. There is plenty to like, but the volatile acidity takes the edge off, which is a shame because the quality of the fruit is otherwise very fine. If it cleans up, this could be a four-star wine.
Jasper Morris MW, InsideBurgundy.com (September 2022)
The 2018 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru contains 40% whole cluster from the oldest parts of the vineyard, the younger vines de-stemmed. Apparently, it struggled to complete its alcoholic fermentation and had to be transferred back into barrel, which finally finished in June 2019.
It has an intriguing bouquet with brown spices and black pepper infusing the vibrant red fruit that leaps from the nose. The palate is well-balanced with fine, saturated tannins. The whole bunch is very well assimilated and lends complexity and precision on the finish. Superb.
Drink 2023 - 2040
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (January 2020)
The 2018 Clos de Vougeot shows some heat and the year’s concentration: the harvest was nearly 20% down in 2017. Liger-Belair used the same techniques in the winery: 30% whole clusters, a three-week cuvaison, and ageing over two winters in cask, half new.
However, the result is even darker and more concentrated than the previous year – one might say almost slightly porty. Impressive if a bit monolithic with its super-ripe black fruits, yet there is still enough balance that it should be lovely with time.
Drink 2024 - 2034
Charles Curtis MW, Decanter.com (June 2021)
About this WINE
Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair
Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair is part of our Spotlight on sustainability series. You can view the full range here.
Thibault Liger-Belair is cousin to Vicomte Liger Belair of Vosne Romanée. In 2001 he took over an old family property in Nuits St Georges, taking back the vines which had been contracted out to various share croppers, and leased a cuverie just down the road. The family jewels (his branch) consist of Richebourg, Clos de Vougeot and Nuits St Georges Les St Georges, to which he has added further vineyards and a few additional cuvées made from purchased grapes.The vines are now certified organic and farmed biodynamically, with horses used to plough the vineyards where possible. The grapes are rigorously sorted on a table de tri, then destalked and fermented without much punching down or pumping over. They will be racked once during the elevage, but Thibault is not afraid of reductive flavours at this stage which, he feels, adds to the eventual substance and complexity of the wine. The oak regime is not to exceed 50% new barrels but also not to use any barrels more than three years old. The natural style of Thibault’s wines is plump and full-bodied, though the benefits of his farming methods seem to be bringing a more mineral aspect to the fruit as well.
The natural style of Thibault’s wines is plump and full-bodied, though the benefits of his farming methods seem to be bringing a more mineral aspect to the fruit as well.
Vougeot
Most of the wine produced in this small village comes from a single, walled Grand Cru vineyard, the famous Clos de Vougeot. The vineyard in its present form dates from 1336 (when it was first planted by monks of Cîteaux), although it was not until the following century that it was entirely enclosed by stone walls.
Clos de Vougeot is both the smallest commune and the largest Clos in the Cote d’Or. It consists of 50 hectares of vineyards shared among 82 owners, with six soil types. There is quite a difference in quality between the upper (best) and lower (least fine) parts of the vineyard, though in medieval times a blend from all sectors was considered optimum.Le Domaine de la Vougeraie makes a very fine white wine from Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot, first picked out by the monks of Cîteaux as being suitable ground for white grapes in the year 1110.
- Five hectares of village Vougeot
- 12 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (four in all): Les Cras, Les Petits-Vougeots, Clos de la Perrière and Clos Blanc de Vougeot
- 51 hectares of Grand Cru vineyard – Clos de Vougeot
- Recommended producers: Domaine de la Vougeraie, Domaine Bertagna, Engel, Anne Gros, Grivot, Liger-Belair, Meo-Camuzet.
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.
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Description
A heady dark colour, with quite a high-toned, slightly volatile bouquet. There is plenty to like, but the volatile acidity takes the edge off, which is a shame because the quality of the fruit is otherwise very fine. If it cleans up, this could be a four-star wine.
Jasper Morris MW, InsideBurgundy.com (September 2022)
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