CLOS VOUGEOT

2018 Grand Cru Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair

EN PRIMEUR

Wild fruit - complex nose and it's the same on the palate, with lots of flavour density and chew. Spicy, lively, longL&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 Vougeot Grand Cru is quite voluptuous on the nose with kirsch, crushed strawberry and hints of blood orange, very perfumed and nicely delineated. This has panache. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded tannins, plenty of slightly toasty red fruit laced with orange rind and mandarin. Not amazingly complex due to Brettanomyces that eventually dominates. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 85 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2022)

The 2018 Clos Vougeot Grand Cru contains 40% whole cluster from the oldest parts of the vineyard, the younger vines de-stemmed. Apparently it struggled to complete its alcoholic fermentation and had to be transferred back into barrel, where it finally finished in June 2019. It has an intriguing bouquet with brown spices and black pepper infusing the vibrant red fruit that leaps from the nose. The palate is well balanced with fine, saturated tannins. The whole bunch is very well assimilated and lends complexity and precision on the finish. Superb. Drinking range: 2023 - 2040 Rating: 93-95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2020)

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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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

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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.

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