2015 CLOS DES LAMBRAYS Grand Cru Domaine des Lambrays, Lea & Sandeman

CLOS DES LAMBRAYS

2018 Grand Cru Domaine des Lambrays

Grapes Pinot Noir
Colour Red
Origin France, Burgundy
District Côte d'Or
Sub-district Côte de Nuits
Village Morey Saint Denis
Classification Grand Cru
ABV 13.5%
Vineyard Clos des Lambrays

The Clos this year is a powerfully tannic wine - Dense ripe ripe fruit, very much in the whole bunch profile of structure and spice. Great intensity and lovely driven length. Thoroughly impressive. L&S (Nov 2019)


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The 2018 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru does not quite have the amplitude of Magnien's Clos Saint-Denis, but it displays more vivacious red fruit, clarifying with aeration and eventually develops quite an ethereal quality. The palate is beautifully balanced with sappy red fruit laced with white pepper, sage and graphite notes. Superb structure on the finish - quintessentially Morey-Saint-Denis with wonderful sappiness. Bon vin! Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting. Drinking range: 2028 - 2055 Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2022)

The 2018 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru has an intriguing nose. There is just a touch of reduction at first and the whole bunch element is more conspicuous here compared to the nascent 2019. Touches of brown spice, clove and freshly rolled tobacco accompany the black fruit. The palate has quite a lactic entry, a smear of dark chocolate that feels incongruous. Yet there is good depth and grip and it feels quite saline towards the finish, long in the mouth, though not as complex as other Grand Crus from this vintage. That said, it should age with style. Drinking range: 2023 - 2040 Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Dec 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 80% whole clusters and 50% new wood). Once again the nose is completely reduced and about all that can be said is that the underlying fruit appears to be quite ripe. On the palate there is good freshness and vivacity as the succulent and rounded middle weight plus flavors also possess a beguiling texture before culminating in a powerful, sappy, firm and somewhat raspy finish. It’s hard to discern how much of the raspy feel of the tannins displayed by all three wines is due to the vintage or due to Boris Champy perhaps changing the vinification style somewhat compared to that of Thierry Brouin. Drinking range: 2023 - Rating: 91-93 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2020)

Domaine des Lambrays

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.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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