2005 Richebourg Grand Cru

Thibault Liger-Belair describes 2006 as "a great surprise." He went on: "There were a lot of sugars in the grapes, especially with our low yields, and biodynamic farming is shortening the difference in time between sugar and phenolic ripeness." His cool, "soft" fermentations, relying more on remontage, with very little pigeage, in conjunction with the acidity of the vintage, yielded wines with purity and elegance. This was a tricky time to taste here, however, as a number of the important wines had just been racked, and most of the rest were in cuve. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Thibault Liger-Belair, who only started vinifying on his own with the 2002 vintage, made it clear to me that he doesn't have a technique for making wine. "There's never a method," he explained. "I always make wine to my taste. But I like precision, and I don't like big tannins." Liger-Belair noted that 2005 was "a naturally full-bodied vintage. So we needed to vinify to make fine wines." Following his normal pre-fermentation cold soak, he did a total of only three or four punch-downs of the cap during the fermentation. The domain has been farmed organically from the time Thibault took over, and as of 2005 is done according to biodynamic precepts. Liger-Belair also showed me a few negociant wines that will be bottled under the Thibault Liger-Belair Successeurs label. He pays a top price for the fruit he wants in June or July and then decides when and how much crop to drop and chooses the harvest dates. None of the 2005s had been racked at the time of my visit and some of the wines were quite reduced. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)