2008 Hubert Lignier Morey St. Denis Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru

From as usual Faconnieres with a touch of neighboring Les Chenevery, the Ligniers’ 2008 Morey-St.-Denis 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes displays the depth of fruit (ripe plum and cherry) as well as meaty (marrow-rich) and mineral (saline) adjuncts one associates with this terrifically consistent cuvee. Cyanic fruit pit notes add counterpoint both to the fruit as well as the wine’s silken texture, and this finishes with the vibratory intensity that typifies so many of the best, energy-filled Pinots of its vintage. Expect a performance worth following for at least a dozen years. Hubert and Laurent Lignier – for more on whose recent evolution as a domaine and as negociants, consult my report in issue 186 – had one barrel from 2008 still stuck in malo last February, and several others had only finished by Christmas. No wines had been bottled (though they were assembled) when I last tasted them in February; indeed even the 2007s here were not bottled until May and June of 2009. Natural alcohol in the 2008 collection peaked at 13% in the Charmes and Combottes (due to extreme millerandage there, notes Laurent Lignier) and all of the wines were very lightly-chaptalized. Sorting was much less arduous for them in 2008 than 2007, he adds. As is evident from my rating, the array of wines from lesser locations or that incorporate purchased fruit have not (in the years since the splitting-up of control over this estate) nearly approached the consistently outstanding quality that the three or four top Lignier bottlings continue to exhibit. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Good deep red. Soil-driven aromas of cherry, minerals, licorice, menthol and smoked meat. Broad, seamless and sweet, with nicely delineated flavors of black cherry, violet, smoke and minerals. This really saturates the palate and vibrates on the back end. Finishes broad and long, with excellent tangy grip. This lovely rocky wine struck me as a less powerful version of Lignier's Clos de la Roche.