HAUTES CÔTES DE NUITS

2018 Clos du Prieuré Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair

EN PRIMEUR

1 ha in Arcenant, quite high up, again on white soils, facing due south. As always this is a fatter cuvée than the Corvée de Villy - dense, but without heaviness, peppery, bright 'c'est vraiment une cuvée qui me ravi', tres beau' says Eric, and we're not disagreeing.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.

(50% whole clusters). Reduction and a whiff of funk leads to round, rich and supple medium weight flavors though the finish is again slightly raspy, compact and a bit tough at present. Drinking range: 2023 - Rating: 85-87 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2020)

The 2018 Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Clos du Prieuré comes from white marn soils and produced the highest alcohol this vintage, at around 15%. That does show on the nose despite a touch of reduction, with just a little warmth and opulence here that is not exhibited by the Corvées de Villy. The medium-bodied palate offers a lot of sucrosity, delivering apricot and marmalade-infused red fruit and a sweet, slightly confit finish. Drinking range: 2020 - 2024 Rating: 85-87 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

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.

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