CLOS DES LAMBRAYS

2017 Grand Cru Domaine des Lambrays

EN PRIMEUR

Lovely quite aristocratic nose, petals and dark leafy aromas backed by sophisticated fruit. This is good, really good. A lovely gentle intensity, but with grace and yet energy too. Super drive. Such fine dusting of tannin they are barely there. A seamless, polished wine but still laden with detail and character. Boris was fascinating about the details of his wine-making here. The wine finished its Malo early, by December 1st 2017. He thinks that whole bunch fermentation releases potassium and other nutrients that are good for the bacteria - and this accelerates the process. He thinks you should go with this flow - not try and cool the cellar and slow down the natural process. Whatever he's up to it is certainly working. This may be a 'big ticket' wine - but it is well worth your consideration as it will offer fabulous mid to long term drinking. Smart. Drinking range: 2023 - 2031L&S (Nov 2018)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

The 2017 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru has a very detailed bouquet of gorgeous red currant, cranberry and mineral aromas, plus a touch of tobacco in the background; quite leafy in style. The palate is medium-bodied with a fine backbone, quite firm and slightly powdery in texture. Focused with good grip on the sappy, overtly peppery finish. This is an excellent Grand Cru. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting. Drinking range: 2025 - 2048 Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2022)

Clear bright purple, with a lighter but quite elegant nose, a little pepper, a little fresh raspberry, darker fruit on the palate, quite dry, a little bit loose knit for grand cru. Tasted: September 2021 Rating: 92 Jasper Morris - Inside Burgundy  (Sept 2021)

(produced from two large parcels of differing vine ages - one that is approximately two-thirds of the blend and is now 50+ years of age and a second, smaller group of vines that is approximately 25+ years of age; made with 90% whole cluster and 50% new wood). There are whiffs of herbal tea, floral and spice influences on the essence of red berry aromas that are trimmed in soft wood and earth nuances. The mouthfeel of the medium-bodied flavors is beautifully sleek thanks to the dense but fine-grained tannins shaping the attractively refreshing, youthfully austere and long finale that is quite linear rather than rich. This should further flesh out with bottle age though that will require at least some cellaring. Drinking range: 2029 - Rating: 92 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2020)

The 2017 Clos des Lambrays: vinified and blended by Thierry Brouin, raised and racked by Boris Champy and bottled by current winemaker Jacques Desvauges. Got it? Good. There is just a touch of reduction on the nose, which is perhaps a little smudged and a bit static compared to the nascent 2018. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins and dark berry fruit laced with clove, bay leaf and sage. The linear finish lacks some depth and grip. Not bad, though not the best in recent years. Drinking range: 2023 - 2040 Rating: 92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2020)

(produced from two large parcels of differing vine ages - one that is approximately two-thirds of the blend and is now 50+ years of age and a second, smaller group of vines that is approximately 25+ years of age; made with 90% whole cluster and 50% new wood). Here too there are whiffs of herbal tea, floral and spice influences on the essence of red berries that is trimmed in soft wood and earth nuances. Once again the mouthfeel of the medium-bodied flavors is beautifully sleek thanks to the dense but fine-grained tannins shaping the attractively refreshing, youthfully austere and strikingly long finale where the only concern is a hint of dryness. My sense is that the dryness is related to the abundant gas and thus my predicted range offers the benefit of the doubt. Drinking range: 2032 - Rating: 91-94 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2019)

The 2017 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru was picked September 3–11 and includes 90% whole bunches in this vintage, matured in 50% new oak. Two tanks were chaptalized and the alcohol is around 13.5°. This has a classic Clos des Lambrays bouquet, quite understated at first, precise but tightly coiled. There is fine purity here. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit laced with tobacco and graphite and a fine line of acidity. Not the most persistent Clos des Lambrays that has ever been made, but perhaps one of the most elegant and poised. Drinking range: 2020 - 2030 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2019)

Beautifully, darkly aromatic with plenty of peppery spice. Woody rather than oaky. There’s freshness from the tannins as well as from the acidity and the texture is so silky on the mid palate yet with power on the finish. Refined, flowing, dry and long. Handsome beauty and so easy to taste even with the underlying intensity and power. There’s just a very slight hint of stems but not OTT. Dark elegance. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040 Rating: 18 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Dec 2018)

90% whole cluster and 50% new oak. Good intensity on the nose. It has a judicious greenness. A slightly minty character which balances the ripe fruit. Black cherry fruits. The tannins which have a sappy intensity, are light and fine. There is minerality here too a certain cold sapidity. It is fresh, coming from the tannins and mineral sapidity. There is wafting a floral note too. It is elegant and subtle and long. Rating: 19.35 Sarah Marsh MW, The Burgundy Briefing (Dec 2018)

The 'Clos' consists of 8.66 hectares of land enclosed by a wall in which there is the original milestone marking its founding in 1365, confirmed in the records of the Abbaye de Citeaux (those monks knew where to place a vineyard). The Clos owes much of its current fame to the nineteenth and twentieth century proprietors who reconstituted it after the fragmentation of ownership which followed the French revolution. Despite always having been considered a Grand Cru site, the Clos was in fact classified Premier Cru in the original 1936 appellations contrôlées.

The Rodier family which owned it from the 1930s fought to regain its Grand cru status, with eventual success only in 1981, when it became the last of the thirty-three Grands Crus of Burgundy, although by then it had passed to the Saier family. Recently under the benign ownership of the Günther Freund and his family, who gave a very free hand to régisseur Thierry Brouin, who had been employed by their predecessor Rolland Pelletier de Chambure, the quality of the wines here has pushed up again. In 2014 it was bought by the LVMH group.

It has been all rather quick change here as Jacques Devauge has taken over here after a short interregnum under Boris Champy. The legacy of Thierry Brouin can still be felt, Jacques decribing him as having been 'clairvoyant' in his approach to the domaine, which has set it up well to deal with challenges of warmer vintages. Jacques seems set to take this estate onward - 'every domaine has to challenge itself to do better', he says. 2019 marks the second year being fully organic - if all goes well they will be certified after another two.

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