2007 Domaine Hubert Lignier Clos de la Roche Grand Cru

The Lignier 2007 Clos De La Roche (raised, for the first time, in 350-liter casks rather than classic barriques) smells and tastes of smoky black tea, beef bouillon, and fresh red fruits, the bitterness of cherry pits and a mouth-watering salinity adding to the sense of dynamic and enticement to its long finish. A slight hint of caramelization from the wood is not unattractive or at all unknit. There isn’t a lot of obvious structure here, but so much the better for immediate enjoyment – and even then, I suspect one can rely on this for 7-10 years of admirable behavior. 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