2015 Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru

Bright ruby-red. Black raspberry, licorice and dark chocolate on the slightly reduced nose, with a spicy quality emerging with air. Wonderfully plush, concentrated and velvety, conveying a spherical impression of volume that has something in common with the Saint-Georges. The black cherry flavor is complicated by hints of earth and flowers and enlivened by saline minerality. This edge-free wine maintains its freshness on the back end, finishing with fine, dusty, building tannins and lovely perfume. At this point in our tasting, Liger-Belair noted that in some vineyards in 2016, he lost 40% of his grapes to frost and another 20% to galloping mildew, noting that he was late on one vineyard treatment and spent the following weeks in reaction mode.

(vinified with 40% whole clusters, the highest percentage yet for this wine; 50% new oak): Bright, dark red. Superb lift to the aromas of black cherry, violet and inky minerality, plus a whiff of goat cheese. Dense, sappy and energetic; more closed in the mouth than the nose suggests but boasts lovely subtle sweetness, precision and mineral spine, not to mention an element of power. Liger-Belair's holding is in the southwest corner of Clos Vougeot, "across from Echézeaux," and features long rows of vines that extend through limestone, brown clay and silt soil.