A magnum of Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair's Échezeaux Grand Cru from 2015, a warm, highly regarded vintage in the Côte de Nuits. This bottle is listed in its original wooden case, sourced direct from the domaine.
About This Wine
Liger-Belair's Échezeaux blends three plots totalling about 0.62 hectares: Les Cruots (also called Vignes Blanches) on the Vosne-Romanée side, stony and rich in limestone; Champs Traversins, higher up on a steep slope with deeper soil; and a sliver of Clos Saint-Denis. Most of the vines are old, and a normal year gives around 1,950 bottles. The domaine finds the wine charming young, then quiet for a few years before it returns with more depth after five to ten. From barrel the 2015 was noted for its volume, freshness and muscle.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Bright red berries and cherry, with spice, a mineral edge and a high-toned floral lift.
- Palate: Full and fresh at once, with layered, juicy fruit, plenty of energy and a firm, fine-grained backbone.
- Finish: Long, spicy and still youthful, with red fruit and stony minerality.
Serving & Food
Magnums age more slowly, so there is no rush: plan to open it from about 2030 and over the two decades that follow. Stand it upright the day before, decant for an hour or two, and pour a little below room temperature, around 16°C. Roast duck, beef Wellington or braised pork belly with star anise would suit.
How to Enjoy
A long-term cellar bottle in the larger format, or a centrepiece for a table of eight to ten.
Product Details
Producer: Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair
Appellation: Échezeaux Grand Cru
Village: Flagey-Échezeaux, Côte de Nuits, France
Vintage: 2015
Grape: Pinot Noir
Farming: Certified biodynamic (Biodyvin)
Packaging: Original wooden case
Volume: 1.5L (magnum)
Provenance: Direct from the domaine
About the Domaine
The Liger-Belair family arrived in Vosne-Romanée in 1815, when General Louis Liger-Belair, who had served under Napoleon, bought the Château de Vosne. By the late nineteenth century the estate ran to more than 60 hectares, including La Tâche, but a forced auction in 1933 broke it up. The family held on to La Romanée, Aux Reignots and Les Chaumes and let them to sharecroppers.
Comte Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, trained as an agricultural engineer and oenologist, took back control in 2000. The Échezeaux arrived in 2006, when he began renting vines from the Lamadon family, former sharecroppers of the estate. The whole domaine went biodynamic in 2008, with Ecocert Biodyvin certification from 2012.