2005 Domaine Hubert Lignier Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

Lignier’s 2005 Clos de la Roche – from three diverse parcels – smells of black cherry, blackberry, ginger bread and fruit cake, with its pungency of citrus zest and brown spices following on the palate. For all of its baked and roasted fruit and meat suggestions, and its underlying, oily textural richness, this holds a fine edge of fresh fruit, displaying subtly chewy fruit skin character. The long finish brings stony mineral, resinous herbal, and gamey animal profundities, but delightful primary fresh fruit is never far from the surface in this wine, the latest in an illustrious line and demanding of 12-15 years in the cellar. There is a distressing cloud hanging over this venerable estate because Hubert Lignier and the American widow of his son, Romain, have been unable to agree on pooling their resources, with the result that two sets of 2006s were vinified (and the 2005s may end up being sold under two different labels). The 2005s I tasted had been drawn earlier in the day as approximations to the final blends. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990.

Good deep ruby-red. Explosive aromas of black cherry, licorice, violet, mocha and exotic spices. Sappy, crunchy and extremely unevolved, with a higher level of CO2 hardening the wine at present. Impressively muscular and concentrated, with kirsch, mineral and licorice flavors dominating. With its distinctly tougher tannins, there's much less obvious sweetness today. A distinctly backward Clos de la Roche that will need a good decade of cellaring.