We all did a double-take when we saw the vintage on this wine’s label: Gamay from 2012 that’s still vibrant and juicy, but also silken, sophisticated, and complex? Yes, indeed, and at an amazing price, too.
But then again, what’s there to be surprised about? This is hardly the first time I’ve tasted a Cru Beaujolais that out-performs many of its Pinot Noir-based Burgundy cousins—it keeps happening, in fact, with increasing frequency. When young Burgundy superstar Thibault Liger-Belair acquired 11 hectares of vineyards in Beaujolais in 2009—most of them on the granite slopes of Moulin-à-Vent—he applied the same biodynamic farming practices and a similar winemaking regimen to the one that has served him so well in Nuits-Saint-Georges and Vosne-Romanée, where his family has farmed vines for more than 200 years. Eschewing the Beaujolais method of carbonic maceration, Liger-Belair instead employs a more “Burgundian” method of fermentation—he de-stems the grapes, subjects them to a relatively long maceration on their skins, and ages the wines in used barrels for more than a year before bottling. The result is a Cru Beaujolais that isn’t so much bigger as it is firmer, finer, and longer-lived than what’s typical. Taste today’s 2012 from the “Les Rouchaux” vineyard and you’ll see just how much dimension and refinement Gamay is capable of—this is serious red Burgundy at a trifling price, right in its sweet spot and ready to blow some minds!
The Liger-Belair surname carries some serious weight in Burgundy: The comte (count) Louis Liger-Belair was a Napoleonic General who acquired the Château de Vosne in 1815, and the family went on to amass an incredible collection of Burgundy’s best vineyards, including “La Romanée” and “La Tâche.” More than a century later, in 1933, complicated inheritance laws forced the family to sell their vineyards at auction, although some were re-acquired by future generations. That was the point at which Thibault Liger-Belair’s forebears went their own way, focusing on vineyards primarily in Nuits-Saint-Georges.
Cut to the modern era, and you’ve got the Comte Liger-Belair domaine, resurrected by Count Louis-Michel Liger-Belair in 2000, and you’ve got Thibault Liger-Belair’s label, created in 2001 (their great-grandfathers were brothers). Thibault grew up in Paris but had wine on the brain from an early age; he started his training in Beaune at the age of 16 and spent time working in wine communications and internet sales before diving headlong into viticulture and winemaking. He took over nine hectares of vineyards, most of them in Nuits-Saint-Georges, that had been in his branch of the family for generations. One of his first orders of business was to eliminate all chemicals from the farming, eventually converting to biodynamics; he subsequently did the same in Moulin-à-Vent, choosing also to vinify his various parcels individually in the interest of maximum terroir expression.
“Les Rouchaux” is a 1.4-hectare plot of 60- to 70-year-old vines on the eastern slopes of Moulin-à-Vent, with sand, clay, and silt layered over the granite bedrock. Thibault characterizes it as the most elegant of his assorted cuvées from the village, incorporating about 30% whole grape clusters in the fermentation and aged in used oak barrels for 12 months. This 2012 is a welcome reminder of just how long, and how gracefully, Gamay can age: there’s still a nice core of wild, brambly berry fruit but the secondary aromas that come with time have begun to emerge. In the glass, the wine is a medium-garnet red with hints of pink and orange at the rim, with aromas that remind you that Gamay and Pinot Noir are indeed closely related: notes of red and black woodland berries, cherry, pomegranate, and cranberry are interwoven with savory scents of hibiscus tea, violets, crushed stones, and underbrush. It is medium-bodied and silky on the palate, ready to enjoy now and over the next 3-5 years with coq au vin and other Burgundian classics. Decant it 30 minutes before serving in Burgundy stems and you’ll be blown away by its elegance and length on the finish. This is really something special and priced so that you need not stop at a single bottle, and as Burgundy values go, this one is very tough to beat. Stock up and enjoy!
