Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair owns and farms the entirety of Clos des Grandes Vignes’ 2.19 hectares as a monopole, planted with 1.87 hectares of Pinot Noir on the highest part of the slope, and 0.32 of Chardonnay. Bought from Domaine du Château de Puligny-Montrachet in 2012, the vineyard has an illustrious history of ownership including Charles Viénot, a significant influence on Burgundy in the 1930s. 70% of the vines are 70 years old with the remainder planted since the Comte Liger-Belair purchase. They grow in soil of clay-loam between 40 and 60cm thick, depending on its position on the slope of the parcel, with up to 20% of the material comprising fragments of shale which point to the ancient geological formations. Further beneath, the Jurassic substrate is rich ochre oolith limestone with debris of marine organisms, either Ladoix limestone or Dijon-Corton limestone. The white, of which rarely more than four barrels are made, comes from the lower part of the clos and this is the one wine in his cellar that only gets a quarter new oak rather than the usual 100%.

The Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Vosne-Romanée is a skillful blend of twelve different parcels showcasing the best of the appellation from vines aged between 40 and 60 years on a total of 0.72 hectares. The plots are situated in the north, west and south of Vosne-Romanée and run the gamut of regional soil types ranging from clay-based and limestone soils from the Saône plain, to the strongly calcareous limestone soils towards the top of the slope. Production tops out at around 2000 bottles.

As a monopole, Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair owns and farms the entirety of Clos du Château’s 0.83 hectares and its 50-year-old vines. There is a higher limestone content to the soil here than in neighbouring La Colombiere due to natural movement from rocks uphill, and the more pronounced angle of the slope, and the wines are less powerful but more elegant as a result. Below the limestone soils, there are ancient deposits of pink marl which form a compact and minimally permeable foundation.

The 0.58 hectares of Les Suchots owned by Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair now contains the former Lamarche parcel of Grands Suchots blended in, and vines are up to 70 years old. Les Suchots is an old toponym of the area, meaning a mound or a rugged slope; the new plot is further up this mound and has a higher additional limestone content. This comes in part from the small calcareous stones, sometimes coated with a salmon-coloured limestone, which pepper the reddish-brown soil.

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair previously owned land in Aux Malconsorts prior to 1933 when their parcels were auctioned off. 2022 marked the Domaine’s return to this highly regarded vineyard when Louis-Michel gained access to two new parcels from Lamarche, one from the top of the vineyard on the south side and one from the bottom of the site. Two vintages in and this looks to be a thrilling new interpretation of a fabled Vosne premier cru. 1800 bottles produced.

The parcel is limited on the east by the wall of La Romanée and climbs to more than 200 metres on the hill. The Domaine’s vines represent close to half of this premier cru, and it is the only parcel that includes all the different types of soil going from the bottom to the top of the appellation. The soils here are not deep, rarely more than 20 to 25 cm of earth lying on heavily fissured limestone. These fissures permit the roots to travel for more than 10 metres of depth in order to seek both water and nutritive elements, essential in dry years such as 2003. One third of the vines are over 90 years old, another third over 70 years old, with the remainder between 20 and 50 years old. This is a cuvée that has been consistently stellar over the last 5-10 years. One of the reference point Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair wines. 2300 bottles produced in a good year.

The Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Echézeaux Grand Cru hails from three different parcels from this site which was granted Grand Cru status in 1937. Totalling 0.95 hectares, there are two in Cruots or Vigne Blanche on the edge of Vosne-Romanée and one at the top of the hillside in Champs Traversins, hosting vines with an average age of 65 years. These revered plots complement each other perfectly, with richer rendzine soil resting on hard limestone for the Cruots vines, and a thin, stony covering of soil on chalky Premeaux and oolite limestone for those in Champs Traversins. A portion of the Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair holdings comprise the Clos St Denis plot that was previously farmed by Lamarche.