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Tasting notes
Tasted at the La Romanée vertical at Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair. The 2008 La Romanée Grand Cru is a step up from the charming 2007: revving into fifth gear and delivering some gorgeous, slightly savoury red fruit tinged with bacon fat and dried rose petals. The delineation here is divine. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. There is still just a touch of oak to be absorbed but that will be soaked up. What I like here is the weight and the weightlessness, a paradoxical wine that delivers intensity without too much effort. The symmetry on the finish is just wonderful. This is a great wine in the making. Tasted June 2015.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2008 is a powerful, vibrant La Romanée, but it is the slight element of lingering reduction that gives me the greatest pause. Enticing scents of dried rose petal, crushed flowers, mint and herbs open up first. Even with time in the glass, the 2008 remains a tightly wound ball of energy, with compelling inner sweetness and lovely savory undertones that all build to a crescendo on the intense, saline-driven finish. Ideally, the 2008 needs the better part of the next decade to come together. It will be interesting to see if the reductive notes dissipate over time.
Good medium red. Dark raspberry, earthy spices, mint, minerals, game and smoky minerality on the nose. Dense and energetic; large-scaled and brooding. This boasts the spherical texture and fat of a riper year. Perhaps not as brilliantly delineated as the Reignots today but this is plusher, broader and deeper wine. Finishes extremely long, scented and subtle, with firm tannic grip.
Good deep red. Captivating nose melds black raspberry, crushed stone, game and truffle. Wonderfully sweet, lush and full in the mouth, but with brisk mineral and licorice notes providing definition and balance. Best today on the slowly mounting, explosive, reverberating finish, which saturates the mouth with flavor without coming off as weighty. The longest of these 2009s and a knockout in the making.
About the producer
Since its rebirth in 2000, Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair has quickly become one of the most highly sought-after producers in Vosne-Romanée. The most prized wine from the estate is their monopole Grand Cru La Romanée.