Domaine Hubert Lignier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru ‘Aux Combottes’ 2023

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

This vineyard is right on the Gevrey/Morey border and is surrounded by the Grand Crus of Latricières Chambertin to the north, Charmes Chambertin to the east and Clos de La Roche on it’s southern and western sides!

Area: 15 ares; vines planted in 1957.
This 3-hectare terroir is surrounded by 3 Grands Crus: Latricières Chambertin to the north, Charmes Chambertin to the east and Clos de la Roche on its southern and western sides. The soil, lying on a gentle slope, is composed of sand, clay and silt.
The wines are concentrated and elegant, deep and complex. This vineyard produces wines that are a little closed when young, but with age blossom.

Appelation : Gevrey-Chambertin
Climat : Aux Combottes
Variety : Pinot Noir

About Domaine Hubert Lignier

When you’re looking at wines from the great producers, like Hubert Lignier, they optimise every year.

Lignier was one of the first Burgundy makers I drank with that extra spark that raises the wines to the upper echelons.

They make fresh, fine and elegant Burgundies.

The wines are personality-filled, layered, complex, harmonious, they have a seamless flowing nature.

Simply put they beg you to drink them!

In the Vineyard

Father and son Hubert and Laurent Lignier manage this 9 hectares estate in Morey-Saint-Denis. They practice organic viticulture in order to create a perfect balance for the vine’s growth but have no intention of seeking certification.

The Domaine Hubert Lignier has long had a reputation for its fine wines known for their concentration, depth and structure. From ‘humble’ beginnings bottling small amounts of two different cuvées of Morey St. Denis (the village bottling and the 1er Cru “Vieilles Vignes”) as well as the fabled Clos de la Roche, Lignier now bottle an impressive range. All of the Domaine’s holdings are now bottled under their own label. Hubert’s son, Laurent, is the next generation of this proud estate and is following his father’s traditional practices to ensure the treasures coming from the family’s impressive vineyard holdings continue to exhibit the best of their respective appellations. The Domaine owns 8.30 hectares principally in the villages of Morey Saint Denis (where their home and the cellars are located), Gevrey Chambertin and Chambolle Musigny. Recently, the Ligniers have expanded their holdings to include parcels in the appellations of Nuits Saint Georges and Pommard. The Ligniers follow the principles of “lutte raisonnée” (sensible combat) in their viticulture: for example, only organic compost is used when necessary and the vineyard is tilled so that no herbicides are used. Yields vary from 20 to 55 hectoliters per hectare depending on the conditions of the growing season and the appellation. The thin, clay and limestone soil on the slopes is not conducive to vigorous growth and limits the crop naturally. A “green harvest” is used when necessary to further manage production to ensure perfect maturity. Young vines are trained using the Cordon de Royat (spur training) system, which helps control the vigor and yields as well. Of critical importance, the “sélection massale” system (i.e. replacing missing vines with cuttings from the same vineyard) is the only method used to propagate vines, a tradition that gives an extra touch of complexity and character to the resulting wines.

In the Winery

At harvest time, the pickers remove any unhealthy clusters in the field, to avoid contamination of the healthy grapes in the baskets, a practice that is supplemented with a “table de trie” at the cuverie.

Traditional vinification practices are the core of their work: grapes are destemmed and fermentation takes place in open-top cement tanks that allow manual pigéage. Only natural yeasts are used. Laurent uses an extended cold soak maceration period prior to fermentation to allow greater extraction (contrary to his father who believes that the best extraction takes place during the alcoholic fermentation). Fermentation is rather long and generally lasts 15 to 20 days following the cold soak of 5 days. The use of new oak for the élevage is carefully restrained; the norm being approximately 20% to ­ 30% on the village wines and up to 50% for the Premier and Grand Crus. The wines of the village appellations usually spend 18 months in barrel while the Premier and Grand Crus remain in cask for 20 to 24 months before being bottled, all without fining or filtration. All work in the cellar that requires movement of the wine is done by gravity; the wines are never pumped.

Hubert Lignier’s 2021 Vintage

Laurent Lignier was proud to tell me that the domaine now has fully 5 ha being cultivated using biodynamic farming principles. He further explained that the “2021 growing season had an unusually early start that came to an abrupt half with the April frost that crushed yields even though they were ultimately disparate. For example, while most vineyards came in between 25 to 30 hl/ha, Chaffots and Clos de la Roche were off 75% and 50%, respectively or expressed differently, Chaffots gave us the equivalent of only 10 hl/ha while Clos de la Roche was 17 hl/ha. June and July were quite wet and just warm enough that we had a ferocious attack of mildew that was tough to beat back. Add in some oidium pressure and it would be fair to describe the season as ‘rock and roll’! We began picking in the Côte de Beaune on the 23rd of September and on the 27th for the Côte de Nuits. Despite the various problems, the fruit was actually pretty clean and riper than expected as potential alcohols averaged 12.5% and most wines were chaptalized about .5%. The grape skins were relatively thin, so we tried to extract more than usual without damaging the seeds as we wanted to avoid inadvertently obtaining seed tannins at all costs. I also typically use some proportion of whole clusters for the vinifications, but I decided to use none in 2021. As to the wines, they are lighter with good finesse but no shortage of volume and excellent persistence along with some of the best terroir transparency we’ve seen since perhaps 2014. The wines should be accessible young, but they have the balance to age well too.” Lignier noted that there is no Chabiots in 2021. I would note that the domaine has been on a roll over the last few vintages and it has again fashioned some lovely wines in 2021. 

Allen Meadows, Burghound

Vintage at Hubert Lignier

This is a fantastic short film sharing some of the history of the Domaine and a day in the life of the Lignier’s during vintage.

Where in the World is Domaine Hubert Lignier?

Domaine Hubert Lignier is based in the Côtes-de-Nuits north of Beaune in the village of Morey-Saint-Denis with wines made from Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny. In addition, they source fruit from Fixin, a small parcel in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Saint Romain. Recently the Domaine has commenced sourcing fruit from Pommard to the South in the Côtes-du-Beaune. Their prize holdings are of the Grand Cru’s Clos de la Roche, Griotte-Chambertin and Charmes-Chambertin alongside a suite of excellent well positioned Premier Cru’s.

Click on any of the maps below to enlarge.

Morey-Saint-Denis

Gevrey-Chambertin

Chambolle-Musigny