2018 Richebourg Grand Cru

Now comfortably ensconced in his new winery on the outskirts of Nuits Saint-Georges, Thibaut Liger-Belair has finally settled into a facility that gifts his team space and hygiene, not to mention comfortable offices and for myself, a tasting room where I broached several bottled 2018s and his entire range of 2019s, including a brief foray into Moulin-à-Vent. “It was an easy vintage to be honest,” Liger-Belair began. “There was no disease so we only had to do four treatments. The dryness was the determining factor in the middle of August but I was surprised by the effect of our vineyard husbandry. In our organic vineyard we had no damage whereas we lost 20-30% in vineyards where we buy from. It was quite a marked difference. We started the picking on 5 September. I was surprised by the phenolic maturity. The wines were balanced so we did a light vinification, maybe just a little more extraction than in 2018. I had the impression that you could do anything you want - you couldn’t make a mistake. I did around 5-6 punch downs in Les Saint-Georges in total but it varies between crus. We taste in the morning and decide what we should do in terms of extraction. It is a very floral vintage and you can tell that when you nose the empty glass. It is clear to see the terroirs, more so than in 2018.”

Liger-Belair’s 2019s showed well and maybe do have their nose ahead of the previous year. The Richebourg aside, the cuvée that caught my eye was the over-performing Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas and another superb Nuits Saint-Georges Les Saint Georges. Generally I found very good use of whole bunches here, though one or two wines showed a little hardness or toughness on the finish that will need time to soften.

Thibault Liger-Belair greeted me at his winery in the outskirts of Nuits Saint-Georges that was built a couple of years ago. "I harvested from 7 September to 16 September. Yields were good although Nuits Saint-Georges was touched by hail and so there we made around 28-30hl/ha. I intend to bottle the Village Crus around January, but most will be bottled in March or April to keep the freshness. I like to wait until after Easter when the wines show well." I asked Liger-Belair how he would rank the 2018 Burgundy vintage. "It is a show-off vintage," he replied. "I am not sure it belong with the greats. I like the depth of the vintage, but in terms of finesse and precision, it is not my favourite. It will be an easy vintage to drink and I think that the wines might never close up." I have admired many of Thibault Liger-Belair’s vintages in recent years, though to be honest, I did find his 2018s less consistent than other producers, simply because I felt that some cuvées were picked later than optimal. Some of the finishes were a little cloying, attractive but missing terroir expression. As he said himself, some wines like the Charmes-Chambertin seem overtly ostentatious, which is not really his style, rather the imprint of the growing season. There are many positives however and some of the wines show clever use of whole bunches to the point where its influence is difficult to detect. Also, his Les Saint-Georges is very impressive and will do no harm for this Premier Crus ongoing application for promotion.