VOSNE ROMANÉE

2017 Aux Réas Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair

EN PRIMEUR

Heavily limestone dominated soil here, so once again, Thibault felt no need to include any whole bunches this year. Always quite a saline terroir but Thibault believes even more so in 2017 with whiffs of iodine even. The intense more savoury notes really do measure the weight of fruit nicely. This has a pretty shape and delicate lines. More saline yes - lovely mineral freshness, but some pretty fruit is there too. This is going to be a freshly elegant Vosne. Good and smart stuff. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030L&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.

Here too there is just enough reduction to mask the fruit but not the underlying spice nuances. The caressing, velvety and seductively textured medium weight flavors possess fine volume plus solid depth and persistence on the balanced finish. This very good effort is very Vosne in style. Drinking range: 2027 - Rating: 89-91 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2019)

The 2017 Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas contains no whole clusters and was one of the largest yields due to the south-facing orientation. The bouquet is very detailed, offering raspberry, wild strawberry and rose petal aromas; touches of red plum develop in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. There is good body and density for a village cru, a little piquancy toward the finish and sweet strawberry on the sustained aftertaste. Drinking range: 2020 - 2032 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2019)

Thibault Liger-Belair has two hectares in Les Saint Georges, the vineyard which gives Nuits the rest of its name, and 60 ares out of a total of 4 hectares of the Grand Cru Richebourg, as well as a good holding in the Clos Vougeot and some well-placed village wines. The vineyards are a good start, but it is Thibault himself who has catapulted this domaine straight into the very top echelons of Côte de Nuits domaines from his first vintage (2002). Thibault was trained as an oenologist but first worked as a wine buyer. He has come to wine making with a wide experience of wine buying, and has had the advantage of having discussed wine-making for many years, with the benefit of his oenological background, with some of the best winemakers of the world. Viticulture is biodynamic (since 2005), yields low but not ludicrously low, everything is pragmatic, so that he should be doing just what is necessary and no more. He uses 40-50% new wood maximum. The wines are bright, pure, focused, aromatic and elegant without lacking anything in the way of stuffing.

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Wines bought en primeur are scheduled to arrive in the UK over the course of the next eighteen months. If you do not wish to take home delivery, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our primeurs team for more information.

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BURGUNDY EN PRIMEUR FAQ

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