Vosne Romanée Clos du Château, Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair 2007

Note: a monopole of the Domaine with 35+ year old vines and much rockier soil than Columbière - 100% new woodProducer note: Louis-Michel Liger-Belair told me that 2007 is a vintage of "extreme precociousness. Unfortunately, after May 15th we had one good day followed by a bad one and as a result, rot pressure was substantial. It was interesting to see that the vineyards that I took over in 2006 had more problems handling the rot than those that are mine and thus used to my viticultural approach. Exactly why I am not sure but I believe that mine are used to fending more for themselves. With the cool weather you absolutely had to have relatively low yields to obtain good phenolic ripeness. We began picking on September 1st and picked quickly, finishing on the 5th. We had excellent sugars at between 12.5 and 13.5% though yields were fully 30% less than a normal crop. I vinified the '07s about like I normally do. As to the wines, it's a good vintage to have after the more substantial vintages of 2005 and 2006 as the wines are generous, approachable and should drink well early." As the scores and comments suggest, the in-bottle '06s have turned out very well and while most of the wines in the range were not there in 2005, those that are were not far off the performance achieved in that great vintage, a high compliment to the quality of the Liger-Belair '06s.

Here the nose offers yet another step up in aromatic refinement with a more deeply pitched nose of red and black pinot fruit, plum and violet notes that dissolve into spicy, pure, detailed and energetic flavors that evince a lovely sense of underlying tension on the subtly mineral suffused finish. This too is on the understated side with class and grace. Also worth a look.