2018 Clos de la Roche
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru is beguiling and pure on the nose with perfumed red cherries, raspberry and cranberry - blossoming with aeration. The palate is everything that you really wish for in a Clos de la Roche: impressive structure, multi-layered red fruit, mineralité that belies the warmth of the summer and a compelling fresh and sapid finish that urges you back to the glass. What a brilliant wine. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting.
Critic scores
Neal Martin
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Revisited in bottle, Lignier's 2018 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru lives up to its fine performance in barrel, wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, cherries and orange rind mingled with truffle, espresso roast, loamy soil and dark chocolate. Full-bodied, concentrated and seamless, it's layered and vibrant, with a deep core of pure fruit that largely conceals impressive reserves of fine, powdery tannins. Concluding with a long and saline finish, it will merit and reward at least a dozen years' patience, likely hitting its stride around age 20.
The 2018 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru comprises one-third whole bunch and 30% new oak. The nose is uncharacteristically backward, though with coaxing it offers enticing dark cherries, blackberry, sous-bois and pine aromas that gain intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit and a fine bead of acidity. Taut and linear, leading to a very precise, persistent finish that is a pure joy. Divine.