Domaine Hubert Lignier Morey-Saint-Denis Grand Cru ‘Clos de la Roche’ 2018

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Surface area: 90 ares over two parcels:
• Monts Luisants: 62 ares; planted between 1955 and 1965 on hillsides with a 25% gradient.
• Fremières: 28 ares; planted between 1953 and 1960
Thin soil composed of white limestone, clay and marl over compact rock known as “dalle nacrée” (pearly flagstone) from the Middle Jurassic.
The wines are always well-coloured, aromatic, dense and complex due to various mineral compounds. The wines are powerful due to their intensity on the palate, but their tannins are concentrated, fine and silky. This is a charismatic wine of great class! Built for very long ageing.

Appelation : Clos de la Roche
Variety : Pinot Noir

About Domaine Hubert Lignier

When you’re looking at wines from the great producers, like Hubert Lignier, they optimise every year. With 2015 having already proven itself to be one of the greats, 2016 has been an excellent follow-up. Lignier’s wines will be divine!

Their wines are fresh, fine and elegant Burgundies thanks to the very little intervention in the cellar.

The fun bit, is, the personality-filled wine, layered, complex, harmonious, simply put, begging you to drink it!

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 2017 Vintage

Laurent Lignier commented that the 2017 growing season was “so much easier than its 2016 counterpart as there was no frost and almost no disease pressure either. We did have a small hail storm that hit the northern portion of Morey and also our parcel of Combottes and while it cost up some yield in those sectors, it really wasn’t all that harmful. The run up to the harvest was also mercifully without further drama and we picked from the 7th to the 14th of September. The fruit was clean and ripe and I used from 0 to 25% whole clusters during the vinifications. As to the wines, they’re not as structured as either the 2015s or the 2016s but they’re actually more elegant and refined with excellent terroir transparency. Stylistically I would describe 2017 as less concentrated version of 2010 or conversely, a more concentrated 2007. The wines are exceptionally pure and sufficiently forward that they should please both purists and those who want to enjoy the wines young.”

William Kelley

This is a very successful vintage for Laurent Lignier, who has produced a lovely set of wines from both his domaine holdings and négociant sources. As readers will know, winemaking is pretty classical at this address, with a short cold maceration, two to three weeks’ maceration with one pigéage and one rémontage per day, and maturation in barrels, some third of which are new—if possible, without racking. Up to one-third stems may be retained, depending on the cuvée, but the influence is subtle and judicious. Unsurprisingly, the domaine’s core holdings in Chambolle, Morey and Gevrey have produced the most consistent and exciting results this year, but Laurent’s négociant cuvées are among the most serious of their kind to be found in the Côte de Nuits, demonstrating genuine quality and attention to detail rather than any attempt to cash in on what is now, deservedly, a well-established and increasingly in-demand name.

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

*Stocks of the Grand Crus and Premier Crus are extremely limited. First come, first served. Wines are available for immediate delivery.