2015 Domaine Lignier-Michelot, Clos de la Roche, Grand Cru Red Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey-St.-Denis, France.
What an amazing treat this 2015 Lignier-Michelot Grand Cru Clos de la Roche, one of my all time favorite vineyards, was on a special night with my co-workers at Bell’s restaurant in Los Alamos with a guest Chef, Chef Julia Sullivan, providing to perfect menu for this gorgeous and profound bottle. I’d never had any of the Lignier-Michelot ties before and didn’t know what to expect, but this deeply hued and concentrated wine easily won me over and completely seduced my palate with true Clos de la Roche and Grand Cru Burgundy depth and complexity, this is absolutely stunning stuff in a great window of primetime drinking with heavenly aromatics, mineral charm, layered dark fruits and incredible length. A ripe and powerful vintage, 2015, captured with all its opulence and vinous glory, but with sublime balance, subtle savory notes, fine acidity, well judged wood and silken mouth feel, excellent all the way. The Pinot Noir fruit, which includes some whole cluster pop here, shows through with black cherry, radiant plum, vine picked berry, currant and mission fig, leads the way, along with delicate wilted rose, violets, a hint of smoky oak, tea spices, velvety tannin, truffle and faint chalky stone. Thank you, big time, to winemaker Aaron Watty, who pulled this from his cellar to share, it was an awesome act of generosity for which I’m humbly grateful for.
The Domaine Lignier-Michelot, a third generation estate in Morey-Saint-Denis, now run by Virgile Lignier-Michelot, is working with all sustainable methods, organic treatments, Guyot and cordon pruning, high trellising, and is farmed according to the lunar calendar, to ensure harmony with nature, protect the environment and make the best wine as humanly possible. According to their importer Becky Wasserman and the winery themselves the vinifications done here include 50-100% whole cluster for the more serious of their reds, with an ambient yeast fermentation, daily pump-overs, and the wines are usually aged for 12+ months in barrels, with up to 15% new. The wines are then blended and aged for an additional 3-5 months in steel tanks, with no fining, though seeing an occasional filtration, as needed. The Clos de la Roche Grand Cru vineyard bottling comes from multiple small plots bordering Les Monts Luisants, with notable shallow soil (30cm) mostly with classic limestone and with some rather large stones and some small rocks scattered throughout the vines. The vines are all mature, with some planted in 1968 and a few others the 1990s, most of which are estate owned, but Lignier-Michelot does actually purchase some Clos de la Roche fruit too, that has been part of the program since 2004, which is part of this cuvée. This 2015 never let up, it was as delicious after a short decant, all the way to the last drop, making for a glorious night of vinous pleasure and of course I was left wanting more!
($500+ Est.) 96+ Points, grapelive