RICHEBOURG

2018 Grand Cru Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair

EN PRIMEUR

30% whole bunch. All the harmonious richness you'd expect. Black fruit depth seems unfathomable - and all so calm - it does it all with such regal calm. Super-rich too. Massive. Very long. Remaining élevage just needs to draw out the finish and shape it a little more.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 Richebourg Grand Cru is dark in colour, more so than A.F. Gros's. Dark berry fruit, pressed rose petals, sous-bois and a touch of Indian ink. This seems to expand in the glass, likewise there is certainly some Brettanomyces evident here. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe, quite saturated tannins, orange zest and hints of marmalade, taut and fresh with real weight and density towards the effervescent finish. There is a palpable sense of grandeur here that I do not find in Gros's, yet the bottom line is that it depends on what happens to the brett. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting. Drinking range: 2026 - 2060 Rating: 95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2022)

(from a .55 ha parcel; 35% whole clusters). An appealingly floral-infused combination, and particularly violet and rose petal, exhibits notes of black raspberry, pomegranate and cassis along with plenty of spice elements. The rich and relatively full-bodied flavors possess fine intensity and good minerality, all wrapped in a somewhat grippy finish that doesn’t display the length that it normally does. We’ll see if this harmonizes in time. Drinking range: 2030 - Rating: 88-91 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2020)

The 2018 Richebourg Grand Cru is matured in around two-thirds new oak including 30% whole cluster. It has an intense bouquet of beautifully defined raspberry, wild strawberry, undergrowth, peppermint and cola aromas. The medium-bodied palate offers sappy red fruit. There is a firm backbone here, dense and grippy and almost stentorian toward the finish. An impressive Richebourg rather than an outright delicious one at the moment, it will require considerable time in bottle. Drinking range: 2028 - 2055 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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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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