2007 Comte du Liger-Belair Echezeaux Grand Cru

$4,500.00

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair may be seen as a recent domaine as it was established only in the year 2000 by Louis-Michel Liger-Belair. However, in reality, Louis-Michel is just renewing two hundred years of family tradition dedicated to the vines and wines of Burgundy.

The Liger Belair family has a glorious history combining the church, the army and the wine trade. The first General Liger-Belair acquired the Chateau de Vosne-Romanée in 1815, as well as various vineyards, and when his nephew and adopted heir married a Marey heiress, the empire grew rapidly: at one point the Liger-Belairs owned La Tâche, La Romanée, La Grande Rue and significant holdings of Clos de Vougeot and Chambertin, along with an array of Vosne-Romanée premiers crus including vines in Malconsorts, Chaumes, Reignots, Suchots and Brûlées.

Unfortunately, complicated succession issues meant that the whole domaine was sold at auction in August 1933. Canon Just Liger-Belair and Comte Michel Liger-Belair between them managed to save La Romanée and small holdings of Aux Reignots and Les Chaumes. Comte Michel’s son Comte Henri devoted his career to the army, reaching the rank of general like his forebear, so the vines were looked after by sharecroppers and the wines sold through négociants.

Vicomte Louis-Michel Liger-Belair decided to recreate the family wine domaine in 2000, beginning with two plots of Vosne-Romanée and premier cru Les Chaumes. Two years later he took back control of Aux Reignots and La Romanée, although a commercial contract with Bouchard Père & Fils to distribute a proportion of the latter continued until 2006. In that year also a further 5.5 hectares of vineyards, on a farming contract from the Lamadon family, brought the domaine up to its present size.

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SKU: LIGBELECH07EC Category:

Description

93 Points John Gilman
like all of the 2007s from Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, there is a sense of flamboyance to his ’07 Echézeaux that is absolutely seductive, with the wine singing on both the nose and palate already, though it is still several years away from really reaching its plateau of peak maturity. The beautiful bouquet is a mélange of raspberries, cherries, red plums, Vosne spices, duck, a lovely base of soil tones that will get nicely autumnal in the fullness of time and a generous coating of new wood that has still not been completely absorbed into the other components of the wine. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and elegant on the attack, with a lovely core of red fruit, superb soil signature, tangy acids and just a touch of backend wood tannins still awaiting absorption on the very long and complex finish. This will be a superb wine, but give it just a few more years to better integrate it new wood. As good as it is (and the wine is going to be very, very good), I would love to have seen it in a vintage like 2007 raised in a lower percentage of new barrels and a few one or two wine barrels utilized in the elevage. But, all this needs is time to fully blossom and no one is going to be disappointed with it down the road just as it is! Drink between 2020-2050.

92 Points Vinous
Good medium red. Subtly complex nose offers cherry, raspberry and minerals. Delivers the sweet fruit of 2007 in spades, with a slightly high-toned quality that adds to its sex appeal (all these 2007s have volatile acidity levels around 0.6, according to Liger-Belair, which helps to explain their expressiveness.) Fat and sexy wine, with a complicating saline nuance. Finishes with sweet tannins and superb length.

Additional information

Producer

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

Vintage

2007

Grape Variety

Pinot Noir

Region

Burgundy

Sub Region

Flagey-Echezeaux

Importer Label

Australia – Negociants Australia

Types

Red

Size

Bottle