CLOS DES LAMBRAYS
2021 Grand Cru Domaine des Lambrays
The 2021 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru continues to impress. Lighter in hue than the 2019 served alongside, it has a lovely nose, the 80% whole-bunch imparting a patina of herbaceousness, damp forest floor, that marries beautifully with the dark berry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh, supremely poised entry. Notes of cedar and sage develop, the tannins more pliant than when I tasted this from barrel, with a piquant finish. Outstanding. Tasted at the Clos des Lambrays vertical in Morey-Saint-Denis. Drinking range: 2027 - 2052 Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2024)
75cl bottles (wood case of 3)
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(produced from two large parcels of differing vine ages - one that is approximately two-thirds of the blend and is now 50+ years of age and a second, smaller group of vines that are approximately 25+ years of age; made with 80% whole clusters and 80% new wood). An intensely floral also freely reveals aromas of rose petal, violet, lavender, spiced plum and a whiff of newly turned earth. The sleek and precise middleweight flavors also possess a caressing yet quite punchy palate feel while displaying outstanding length on the focused, moderately austere and built-to-age finale. This is also really very good and a wine that should easily repay 12 to 15 years of keeping. Drinking range: 2033 - Rating: 92-95 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2023)
The 2021 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru is tasted from separate cuvées and as a final blend. Containing around 80% whole bunches and 60% new oak, it has a beautifully-defined bouquet with dark berry fruit, bay leaf and a touch of white pepper that unfurls in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, raspberry and red plum, sage and white pepper, leading to a very harmonious finish with a hint of underlying citrus fruit. Heavenly. Drinking range: 2027 - 2052 Rating: 96-98 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2023)
Domaine des Lambrays
The 'Clos' consists of 8.66 hectares of land enclosed by a wall in which there is the original milestone marking its founding in 1365, confirmed in the records of the Abbaye de Citeaux (those monks knew where to place a vineyard). The Clos owes much of its current fame to the nineteenth and twentieth century proprietors who reconstituted it after the fragmentation of ownership which followed the French revolution. Despite always having been considered a Grand Cru site, the Clos was in fact classified Premier Cru in the original 1936 appellations contrôlées.
The Rodier family which owned it from the 1930s fought to regain its Grand cru status, with eventual success only in 1981, when it became the last of the thirty-three Grands Crus of Burgundy, although by then it had passed to the Saier family. Recently under the benign ownership of the Günther Freund and his family, who gave a very free hand to régisseur Thierry Brouin, who had been employed by their predecessor Rolland Pelletier de Chambure, the quality of the wines here has pushed up again. In 2014 it was bought by the LVMH group.
It has been all rather quick change here as Jacques Devauge has taken over here after a short interregnum under Boris Champy. The legacy of Thierry Brouin can still be felt, Jacques decribing him as having been 'clairvoyant' in his approach to the domaine, which has set it up well to deal with challenges of warmer vintages. Jacques seems set to take this estate onward - 'every domaine has to challenge itself to do better', he says. 2019 marks the second year being fully organic - if all goes well they will be certified after another two.
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