Clos de la Roche Grand Cru 2023 Domaine Hubert Lignier

The Clos de la Roche Grand Cru 2023 from Domaine Hubert Lignier is the domaine's crowning achievement and one of the most precious and eagerly awaited bottles across the Côte de Nuits. A charismatic wine of great class, always vibrant in colour, aromatic, dense and complex thanks to its varied mineral compounds, powerful on the palate yet with concentrated, fine and silky tannins. Each bottle is hand-waxed by Laurent Lignier himself and dressed with a label created by artist Joyce Delimata, a craft detail that speaks volumes about a domaine for whom every bottle is an act of faith.

Terroir and the two parcels

Clos de la Roche is the largest and most powerful of Morey-Saint-Denis's five Grand Crus, bordering Gevrey-Chambertin from which it inherits a slightly fuller character. Domaine Hubert Lignier holds 90 ares split across two complementary parcels. Monts Luisants, 62 ares, planted between 1955 and 1965 on 25% slopes, yields grapes of incomparable natural concentration and intensity from vines over 60 years old on a steep hillside. Fremières, 28 ares, planted between 1953 and 1960, produces vines nearly 70 years old of remarkable aromatic richness and depth. The soil is lean, composed of white limestone, clay and marl over compact rock known as the nacré slab, the organodetrital limestone of the Middle Jurassic Bathonian stage, which is the geological signature of Clos de la Roche. This compact rock and its varied mineral compounds give these wines their characteristic colour, aromatics, density and complexity. Production ranges from 15 to 25 hectolitres depending on the vintage. Viticulture is organic across the entire parcel, biodynamic on two-thirds. Hand-harvested with rigorous sorting. Vinification follows tradition with 30% whole clusters, indigenous yeast fermentation for 20 days in stainless steel. Ageing on lees lasts 21 months in French oak with 40 to 50% new wood for the Grand Cru. Neither fined nor filtered, bottled by gravity.

Tasting profile

The robe is concentrated and deep, with exceptional texture. The nose offers ripe red fruits, violet and gentle spice, with a depth and complexity of great refinement. Dark plum, blackberry and blackcurrant aromas accompanied by notes of cocoa, pepper and damp earth compose a bouquet of absolute intensity and precision. On the 2023 vintage, marked by lovely freshness across the Côte de Nuits, that cool climate character melds with pure ripe fruit for a result of remarkable balance and definition. On the palate, the texture is remarkable in how it combines climatic freshness, intensity and purity of ripe fruit. The concentrated tannins are fine and silky, of a quality and precision that can only come from old vines and rigorous extraction. The finish is long with a saline note, a direct reference to the calcareous terroir of the nacré slab. Exceptional cellaring potential: keep for at least ten years, reaching its apogee between 2033 and 2050.

The domaine

Hubert Lignier founded the domaine in the 1970s in Morey-Saint-Denis. Upon his death in 2004, his brother Laurent took over from 2006. The estate encompasses 11 hectares of vineyard, the oldest planted in 1936, with an average age of 50 years. The domaine's philosophy is constant: to craft authentic, sensual wines that express their respective terroir. Laurent Lignier states plainly that 75% of wine quality comes from vineyard quality, and every bottle from the domaine, hand-waxed and carefully dressed, is a living demonstration of this conviction.

Food pairings

This Clos de la Roche Grand Cru pairs with the noblest dishes of Burgundian gastronomy: jugged hare perfumed with truffle, pheasant with wild mushrooms, venison fillet with wild berries, long-braised beef bourguignon or quality coq au vin. It will also shine alongside well-aged Époisses or Langres cheese, or risotto with Burgundy truffles. Decant for a minimum of two hours in its youth. Served between 15 and 17°C, it will gradually reveal the full charismatic grandeur of a hand-waxed Grand Cru from Morey-Saint-Denis made for eternity.