Domaine des Lambrays’ Clos des Lambrays 1966-2012
BY STEPHEN TANZER |
This past December seemed an ideal time for me to taste a vertical collection of the Domaine des Lambrays’ historic Grand Cru Clos des Lambrays. New winemaker Boris Champy, who took over in early 2017, had just completed his first vinification on his own following the retirement of long-time estate director and winemaker Thierry Brouin last spring. Yet the veteran Brouin, who has devoted most of his adult life to painstakingly restoring this previously underperforming old property to excellence over the past nearly 40 years, was still close enough to his subject to attend the tasting as well. This turned out to be fortuitous, in light of a subsequent and unexpected change in personnel (see below).
Headquarters of the Domaine des Lambrays
The Ancient History of the Clos des Lambrays
The Clos des Lambrays is one of Burgundy’s oldest and most famous Grand Crus, first cited (as Cloux des Lambreys) in the deeds of the Abbaye de Citeaux in 1365. It’s also the largest clos in Burgundy that’s almost entirely under single ownership. The property was broken up among more than 70 owners during the French Revolution but was mostly reassembled during the middle of the 19th century by négociant owner Louis Joly, then fully reunited by Albert-Sebastien Rodier in 1868. The Clos des Lambrays essentially became a monopole.
The property was ranked as a “première cuvée” in the 19th century, but when Burgundy’s appellations were created in the 1930s, the vineyard had fallen on hard times and it was not granted Grand Cru status. (Both Clos de la Roche and Clos Saint-Denis in Morey-Saint-Denis obtained Grand Cru status in 1936, with Clos de Tart following in 1939.) And when Renée Cosson purchased the Domaine des Lambrays in 1938 from Albert Rodier, the grandson of Albert-Sebastien, the new owner did not seek Grand Cru status since that would have resulted in higher taxes. Subsequently, Cosson—and her son Henri during the 1970s—for the most part neglected the estate during their 40+ years of ownership. Although some outstanding wines were made during Cosson’s ownership, such as the ’37 and the ’45, the vineyard was in disarray by the end of their tenure as many dying vines had not been replanted. Some vintages in the 1970s were not even bottled. By then, the locals commonly referred to the property as Clos Délabré (dilapidated).
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This past December seemed an ideal time for me to taste a vertical collection of the Domaine des Lambrays’ historic Grand Cru Clos des Lambrays going back to the 1960s. Under the steady hand of widely respected estate manager/winemaker Thierry Brouin, the Clos des Lambrays has been restored to Grand Cru status after decades of neglect.
