CLOS DE LA ROCHE

2018 Grand Cru Domaine Lignier-Michelot

EN PRIMEUR

A very 'straight' nose, all compact and harmonious. The entry is silky, but lifted, not heavy, fresh and pushing red fruit brightness with the weight gathered effortlessly behind. Richly silk-wrapped. There's lovely energy here.L&S (Nov 2019)

* 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 2018 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru is a little confit and jammy on the nose, though the fruit is attractive, wild strawberry and raspberry, touches of orange pith. It coheres impressively in the glass despite a touch of reduction. The palate is medium-bodied with chiselled tannins. Plenty of freshness here, saline, vibrant and bright, this fans out gloriously towards the finish with a persistent, spicy, slightly exotic finish that does not detract from typicité. Big things ahead. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting. Drinking range: 2027 - 2055 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2022)

(from a .27 ha parcel, most of which is young vines of 15+ years of age though there is a parcel approximating 15% of the total with ~40 years of age; 80% whole cluster). An exceptionally ripe nose flashes port-like nuances on the mix of red and dark berry fruit aromas where additional breadth is present in the form of menthol, violet and soft spice wisps. There is better freshness on the palate of the well-detailed and minerally big-bodied flavors that exhibit outstanding power on the robust, muscular and lingering finish. This firmly structured effort is impressive if not typical. Drinking range: 2038 - Rating: 91-94 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2020)

Cask sample. Intense and dense but to my palate it doesn’t quite seem worth the (considerable) premium. Youthful and it’s probably got all the necessary elements but it’s very embryonic. Drinking range: 2032 - 2048 Rating: 17.5+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Jan 2020)

The 2018 Clos-de-la-Roche Grand Cru, matured with 80% whole bunch, has an intense blackberry nose with strong undergrowth and seaweed aromas. The medium-bodied palate features crunchy black fruit. Here I feel the stem addition slightly dominates the finish, so hopefully that will be subsumed with time. Maybe this is one cuvée from the domaine where I might have dialed down the whole bunch. Drinking range: 2024 - 2044 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2020)

Depth and intensity and a lovely long, fine, elegant and very mineral finish. From the Mont Luisants, Genavrières, which is why it’s so elegant. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035 Rating: 97 Sarah Marsh MW, The Burgundy Briefing (Nov 2019)

A domaine of 11 hectares, 25% regionals, 50% Villages, 20% Premiers crus and 5% Grands Crus. Virgile Lignier worked at the domaine with his father Maurice from 1988, beginning to bottle some of the wine from 1992 (it had previously been sold to the négoce), taking over in 2000, which was the vintage when he first bottled all the domaine's production.

In the vineyard Virgile made significant changes, stopping the use of herbicides, and beginning to plough instead. Green harvesting to limits yields followed, along with greater attention to grape selection. The domaine works organically except in extremis.

The wines have a lovely combination of enough body and richness, combined with a lively clarity of expression. The old vines village cuvées are seriously good, and great value too. Going up the scale each site seems to speak very clearly of its source and there is a brightness and energy along with full, seamless fruit.

ORDERING VIA OUR WEBSITE:

  • We will respond as quickly as possible with confirmation of your order and your invoice.

Please note that certain wines are on very tight allocations and will first be offered to customers who buy across the range. If you have any queries, please email our primeurs team or speak to your usual L&S contact.

ORDERING VIA EMAIL:

Please feel free to email us at any time. This list can include wines listed as available on the website, as well as those marked 'To Be Advised'. We will reply as soon as possible with confirmation of what we can offer.

STORAGE OPTIONS:

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.

While helpful, we do not require a firm commitment on delivery destination to process your primeur order at this stage. Our team will be in contact with you when your wines arrive in the UK to confirm the necessary delivery details.

BURGUNDY EN PRIMEUR FAQ

OFFER: All wines are offered subject to availability and final confirmation.

PRICING: All prices are quoted IN BOND ex-VAT, by the case size stated. Please double check that the desired case size does match what is being offered as wines are variously listed in threes, sixes, dozens, halves and larger formats.

DELIVERY - TIMING: This is a primeur offer so the wines are not yet physically available for delivery. They will be shipped to the UK over the next eighteen months. Generally, wines are shipped to your nominated location once the whole order has landed in our London City Bond account. If you require wines to be delivered by a certain date, please advise us at the time of ordering.

DELIVERY - FEES: In bond delivery to an Elephant Storage account (for more information see 'Storage Options' opposite) is free of charge. Transfer of wines to any third-party bond (i.e. not Elephant Storage) will incur an administration charge of £16.50 + VAT for all orders under £1,000. Please indicate if you would like the wine duty paid and a duty & VAT invoice will be raised once all the wines on your order are available for shipment. Once the relevant duty & VAT has been settled, we will ship the wines to your nominated address as per our normal duty paid Delivery Terms.

PAYMENT: All orders will be invoiced for immediate payment by cheque, cash, debit card or cleared funds to our account. We regret that we cannot accept credit cards for primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.