2019 Clos Saint-Denis Grand Cru

Virgile Lignier-Michelot escorted me through his 2019s and a couple of 2018s at his winery just round the corner from Arlaud. He is always fashionably 5-10 minutes late, so I always factor this into my tightly packed itinerary. His wines have grown in reputation in recent vintages. He might not work out of quaint, centuries-old winery in the heart of the village, but his new-built winery is functional, affords him plenty of space to work and the results can be seen in the wines that showcase the Morey appellation supremely well. “All wines have been racked into tank with no correction,” he explained. “I started the picking on 18 September. We had to harvest very quickly because the conditions were good and hot and I needed to keep the freshness. I also decided to change my harvest so that I started with the Grand and Premier Crus and finished with the Village Crus. Then I did a long maceration with only one or two punch-downs to keep the maximum fruit. Most of the 2019s will be bottled in February and April. I love 2019 because the range is very consistent. To be honest, I don’t recognise the wines as they have changed so much in the last 10 days.”

Like at Domaine Arlaud I found that the Clos Saint-Denis is a couple of paces ahead of the Clos de la Roche, though both constitute excellent wines. For sure, it comes across more structured and “aloof” by comparison, yet in the long run I feel that it will mature into a wonderful, dense and flavour-packed Clos Saint-Denis. But you do no need to broach the heady heights of a Grand Cru to be afforded the pleasure of Virgile Lignier’s winemaking skills. Check out his brilliant Morey-Saint-Denis Les Faconnières or the Les Chenevery snapping at its heels - as good as any Premier Cru in the appellation this year. One of the keys to success is Lignier-Michelot’s assiduous use of stems addition that often counterbalances the ripeness and hedonistic leanings of some of his cuvées. Only on a couple of occasions did I detect just a hint of sur-maturité, then again, that is the same for many growers.