Producer: Domaine Hubert Lignier  
Region: Morey-St-Denis, Cote de Nuits, Burgundy, France  
Varietal: Pinot Noir  
Year: 2020 

Decanter, 97 Points 

"A concentrated wine, with a powerful black plum and blueberry fruit, replete with notes of mineral, rose petal, smoke and spice. The texture is very dense and powerful, yet the wine never loses sight of its essential elegance and finesse. This 'regular' cuvée of Clos de la Roche is a blend of two-thirds Monts Luisants and one-third Fremières, all 60-70 years of age. 30% of the fruit is fermented as whole clusters and the wine is aged in 30% new casks." 

Wine Advocate, 95-97 Points 

"Aromas of dark berries, baking chocolate, forest floor, spices and plums introduce the 2020 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru, a full-bodied, layered and multidimensional wine that's deep and concentrated, with lively acids, ripe tannins and a long, saline finish. Still primary after a year's élevage, it's built to age. Laurent Lignier began his harvest on August 27, reporting below-average yields and finished alcohols between 13% and 14%. Once again, the result is a fine vintage for both his domaine holdings and négociant sources—the latter, amounting to some 3.5 hectares of vines, now clearly distinguished in our reviews. As readers will know, winemaking is pretty classical at this address, with a short cold maceration, two to three weeks' maceration with one pigéage and one rémontage per day and maturation in barrels, some one-third of which are new—if possible, without racking—for fully 22 months in the domaine's cold cellars. The 2020s are more primary and tightly wound than Lignier's 2019s, but they're similar in terms of ultimate quality and are well worth seeking out." 

Vinous, 95-97 Points 

"The 2020 Clos-de-la-Roche Grand Cru has a beautifully-defined bouquet with violet-infused black cherry and raspberry fruit, just a hint of orange pith emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, fleshy and ripe with a touch of white pepper and clove towards the finish. The manner in which this builds in the mouth is thrilling, yet it remains utterly composed from start to end." 

Jasper Morris, 94-97 Points 

"A blend of Monts Luisants (7 barrels) and Fremières (2 barrels). Intense black purple, lightly reductive as this sample has come straight from barrel. Powerful dense purple, not so much nose as yet but an excellent strict structure, ripe fruit, a tiny bit dry at the back, along with the acidity adding tension. Then the fruit bounds back at the finish. There is some wine here all right! 14.4% alcohol." 

John Gilman, 96 Points 

"The 2020 Clos de la Roche from Laurent Lignier was also raised in thirty percent new oak this year and included thirty percent whole clusters. It is another simply stellar wine in the making. The nose offers up a complex constellation of black plums, black cherries, roasted venison, a beautiful base of soil tones, a touch of balsam bough, bonfire, espresso and spicy new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and refined in personality, with a rock solid core of fruit, ripe, buried tannins, fine focus and grip and a long, soil-driven and well-balanced finish. Great juice. (Drink between 2040-2100)" 

Burghound, 93-95 Points 

"A very ripe and markedly earthy nose offers up notes of cassis, poached plum, red currant and a smoky hint. The succulent, concentrated and highly seductive big-bodied flavors brim with sappy dry extract before terminating in a powerful, muscular and strikingly long if youthfully austere finish. As one would expect from a wine that has a magnificent track record, this too should age effortlessly."  

Alcohol: 14% 

Organically farmed. 

*Discounts do not apply to items like this one in the Fine & Rare category. Price and availability in store may vary.