2012 Clos Vougeot

(the yield here was just 23 hectoliters per hectare, according to Liger-Belair): Wild aromas of black raspberry, minerals and underbrush. Concentrated, rich and uncompromisingly dry, conveying an impression of solidity and strong soil tones to its black cherry and mineral flavors. Liger-Belair told me he did a bit more pigeage and a hotter fermentation here and got more tannins. Finishes long and nicely integrated. This may not be bottled until September of 2014.

The 2012 Clos-Vougeot impresses for its perfumed aromatics, silky fruit and chalky tannins, all of which are impeccably balanced throughout. Sweet red berries, rose petals, chalk and bright saline notes abound. There is so much to look forward to here. The 2012 was vinified with fully destemmed fruit and aged in 40% new oak. This is a great Clos Vougeot in the making.

The 2012 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru comes from the south part of the vineyard, 0.48 hectares of vine planted in 1947 located in the corner towards Echezeaux on limestone, clay (red and black) and silt soils. It has a very expressive bouquet with vibrant, intense, earthy red berry fruit that demonstrate energy and hubris. The palate is very well-balanced with superb focus. The acidity it well-judged, although it is just missing a little substance towards the finish, like a child losing concentration. Hopefully that will develop by the time this is bottled, because otherwise this is a very fine Clos Vougeot. Though I have met Thibault Liger-Belair several times in the melee of the London Burgundy tastings, this was actually the first time that I had visited his cellars, stationed on the busy RN74 artery as it swerves through the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges. He actually started on the communication side of the wine business, before relocating from Paris and establishing the domaine in 2001. In case you were wondering (as I was) he is distantly related to Louis-Michel Liger-Belair in Vosne: their great-grandfathers were brothers. The barrel cellars lie below the grand maison that on first appearances is spacious for a Burgundy domaine. That might be because of the depletion of yields in recent vintages, Thibault’s 2012 averaging only 16 hectoliters per hectare on average. Still, this is a vigneron that has expanded his holdings in recent years, most recently into Moulin-a-Vent in Beaujolais, whose notes I have included here for no lesser reason than they are too bloody good to just sit on. Thibault told me that he stumbled across a Beaujolais grower who was blissfully unaware of the currency of old vine material. “I was shocked when I asked him how old the vines were,” he recalled with glee. “He did not know their age exactly. But he was 80 years old, and he said that when he was a boy, they were referred to as ‘vieilles vignes’!” I have always found Thibault an easygoing person, candid with his views, one of the most garrulous winemakers in the region. Gregory Gouges forewarned that if I videoed Thibault, I would be unable to make him stop talking, which my interviewee admitted was true before commencing his oration. But that is no bad thing when you are a young, ambitious winemaker galvanized by what you are doing and the tenets you bring to your wines that are invariably top drawer. Burgundy and Nuits-Saint-Georges in particular, need people like Thibault. Overall, these were astutely crafted wines that expressed their terroir with panache. Sure, there is a couple that seemed a little “iffy”, for example the “crazy” Charmes-Chambertin, but otherwise the passion that Thibault shows as a winemaker is translated into the passion shown by his wines. N.B. Subscribers can watch a video I took of Thibault discussing the vintage, filmed in his cellars in Nuits-Saint-Georges. I begin with Thibault’s quartet of impressive Beaujolais wines. Having experienced a 1934 Fleurie, he is convinced that there is immense untapped potential in this region (to which I agree.) Moving to the Cote d’Or, Thibault showed me through his barrel samples from the negoce side of the business (labelled “Thibault Liger-Belair Successeurs”) and from his own vineyards (labelled “Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair”.) Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802 and through Berry Brothers & Rudd in UK.