2004 Morey-Saint-Denis Vieilles Vignes

Virgile Lignier told me that he did his normal extraction in 2005. The grapes came in with very good phenolic maturity, he explained, and the wines were easy to vinify. He chaptalized on the order of 0.3% just to prolong the fermentations. The wines had been racked in September, and the crus were put back in barrel for further aging. In recent years, Lignier has eliminated most of his Berthomieu barrels and now uses almost entirely Francois Freres; he normally employs about one-third new oak for the crus. Lignier told me that he actually had a bit less crop in 2004 than in 2005 after the severe selection. "The biggest difference between the two vintages was that the grapes in 2004 were less ripe and less dark in color," he said. "There were a lot of rose grapes." (A Becky Wasserman selection, importers include Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY) Also recommended: Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes (86+?).

Virgile Lignier described 2004 as a difficult year, due in large part to the attack of oidium. "We got reasonable sugars, but the phenolic maturity was not good," he told me. "The problem is that the wines often show a ripe middle palate but dry tannins. We were very careful about pigeage; during vinification we looked for sweet, soft tannins and we did everything we could to avoid vegetal tannins. "(A Becky Wasserman selection, importers include Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY and Veritas Imports, Beverly Hills, CA)