Clos de la Roche, Lignier-Michelot 2013

Tasted blind at the Burgfest tasting in Beaune, the 2013 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru from Virgile Lignier has a vivid bouquet with animated blackberry and raspberry preserve aromas, fine mineralité and well integrated oak. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red cherries and raspberry, sweet tannin, fine acidity and a juicy, quite structured finish with a generous pinch of white pepper spicing things up. This is a resounding success. Tasted September 2016.

**Note: from a .27 ha parcel, most of which is young vines of 15+ years of age though there is a parcel approximating 15% of the total with <40 years of age, 80% whole cluster**
Here too there is a backdrop of wood framing the very fresh and ripe aromas of black berry liqueur, plum, earth and discreet sauvage elements. The dense, powerful and brooding big-bodied flavors possess excellent mid-palate concentration along with a lovely sense of vibrancy as the intensity does a slow crescendo to the explosively long and muscular finish. Classic Clos de la Roche that is not only built-to-age but will absolutely require it.