2011 Moulin a Vent Les Vignes Centenaires

Liger-Belair’s 2011 Moulin-a-Vent Vignes Centenaire issues from two newly acquired plots verifiably well in excess of 100 years old and gave a terrific December account of itself via a tank sample. Cassis, black raspberry and cherry are inflected by violet, beef marrow, iodine, crushed stone, and saliva-liberating salinity on a silken-textured, sumptuous, practically viscous yet in no way heavy palate. The primary juiciness along with its complex carnal and mineral accompaniments persists in a deeply palate-staining finish promising a wine that will almost certainly merit revisiting through at least 2020. Thibaud Liger-Belair (see my reports in Issues 190 and 196 for more about his Beaujolais project) was not able to connect with me late last year, so I tasted his latest collection, which includes an exciting new bottling, via tank samples of the final assemblages. Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to re-taste Liger-Belair’s 2010s from bottle, but it seems clear from the promise which not only those wines but their successors have shown before bottling (a process which seldom seems to be especially traumatic in his hands) that this estate will be among the beacons of its region. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802