2013 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Vosne-Romanée Reignots 1er Cru

Tasted at the Comte Liger-Belair vertical at the Château de Vosne. The 2013 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Reignots, which was bottled in April 2015, already has plenty of primary red berry fruit on the nose that feels very pure - mulberry and maraschino cherry. The palate continues really where the 2012 left off: quite wondrous delineation and tension from start to finish, perhaps edgier than the 2012, with a precise finish that has the perfect amount of sappy red berry fruit. One of the best Aux Reignots in recent years, one that has really elevated to another level since I tasted in from barrel. Tasted June 2015.

The 2013 Vosne-Romanée Aux Reignots, from the parcel just above La Romanee, is utterly magical. Seamless and explosive on the palate, the 2013 is the kind of wine that is virtually impossible to spit. The flavors are exotic and flashy as this decidedly opulent, Vosne literally captivates all the senses with its extraordinary beauty. There are no hard edges or angular contours to be found. The 2013 Reignots is a real head-turner. Readers who can find it are in for a thrilling drinking experience.

Good deep, bright red. Explosive, showy aromas of black raspberry, violet, licorice, dark chocolate and crushed stone. Plush on entry, then rich, tangy and sweet, with a soil-driven saline and mineral complexity to the dark berry and floral flavors. Spreads out to saturate the entire palate on the vibrant, slow-building, very long finish. When I told Louis-Michel Liger-Belair that I thought the wine had the class of a grand cru, he replied that it "has the weight of a premier cru because grand crus have no weight."