2018 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

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.