En primeur tasting - Burgundy Briefing

Below the house is a 0.6 hectare parcel of 60-80 year old vines. The soil is only clay
with no limestone.
Light and perfumed, rather delicate and fruity. Rounded, raspberrish with vibrant
acidity and fine, smooth tannins. Very good, very charming village wine. From 2007
Vosne-Romanée, Clos Du Chateau
35 years old vines on 0.83 hectares, which lie at the beginning of the slope where the
soil is rich in limestone. It is a clos with 4 walls. Liger-Belair points out that the walls
are an important part of the microclimate in a small parcel for of course the stone will
absorb heat during the day and radiate it at night. This clos was originally the garden
of the château, but 36 years ago his father planted it with vines. However if one goes
back further still to 1850, it was a vineyard. (It is necessary for a clos to have three
walls to qualify as such.)
This wine is very bright and floral with juicy acidity and wonderfully pure redcurrant
fruit with high notes of white pepper. A very feminine wine, intense and fragrant with
taut chalky tannins, a reserved linear structure, good pace and lovely length. Top
notch village. From 2008
Vosne-Romanée, Les Chaumes
This is a really tiny 50 year old parcel of 0.12 hectares, well placed just below La
Tâche (top north/west position). It is made in a small wood vat for it only produces
two barrels. Liger-Belair points out that it has a shorter fermentation than the other
wine, just three to four days, and that in such a small volume it is of course more
difficult to preserve the temperature. In previous vintages he has pressed the wine
on top of Les Reignots, but he wasn’t happy with the results, so in 2004 he made a
separate press.
Red fruit and roses, very perfumed. Richer with a more tannic structure, a bigger
framework, sweet fruit, bold but elegant with excellent extract, lovely acidity, really
very fresh and juicy, a firm mineral core and a long, silky finish. A very well
structured Les Chaumes. Fine. From 2008.
Vosne-Romanée, Les Reignots
1.61 hectares, so half of Les Reignots. The family have owned this since the C18 th. It
is an unusual parcel as it runs from the top to the bottom of the appellation, giving a
cross section of the terroir, which Liger-Belair considers important for quality. There
is an average 20cm of earth before bedrock he tells me and he believes the roots may
go down as far as 10 metres, particularly as in 2003 the vines here showed little sign
of the drought. Two thirds of the vines are over 60 years old and the ground is very
stony and hard to work, but Liger-Belair finds it a rewarding parcel, as it vividly
repays all the work put into it. At the moment he is propagating a sélection massale
from the old vines, to use instead of clones in the domaine. The vines selected are
affected by millerandage and therefore yield low.
Very dense and rich and incredibly intense. Minerally attack, tight and focused, Taut
core, powerful, very precise with real drive. Profound fruit and excellent extract.
Tense tannic structure and masses of uncoiled energy. Very long. Very fine+. I like
this a great deal. From 2010.
La Romanée
0.8452 hectares. It pays to be precise at this level. This has been a monopole since
1826. On paper the vines are 50 years old, but Liger-Belair thinks that in fact the