Wine Advisor
Thibault Liger Belair, Richebourg Grand Cru 2012
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
A drop-dead gorgeous beauty, the 2012 Richebourg takes hold of all the senses with a kaleidoscope of aromas and flavors that is truly breathtaking. This is a gracious Richebourg that adds considerable finesse to all of the structure one expects to find. Violets, cloves, new leather and black fruit are all supported by veins of cool, incisive minerality. The flavors are intense and resonant, with tons of mineral drive and pure energy. What a magnificent wine this is. Liger-Belair vinified the Richebourg with fully destemmed fruit.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Deep red-ruby. Very deep but unforthcoming nose hints at black raspberry, violet and minerals, with complicating torrefaction notes of chocolate and coffee. Boasts outstanding thickness without weight but shows a distinctly austere menthol quality and already seems to be shutting down in the bottle. There's a pungent sappy oak element that the wine may need a long time to absorb. Most impressive today for its palate-saturating length and floral lift but this is a bit of a cipher in the early going.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(100% destemmed): Good bright, dark red. Wild aromas of black raspberry, game and leather. Creamy-sweet on entry, then youthfully imploded in the middle, showing outstanding intensity and pungent minerality but totally unevolved today (Liger-Belair described it as a fetus). Combines power and elegance, and finishes with palate-staining perfume. Should be a great vin de garde but will probably require at least a decade in the cellar even to begin to approach its peak.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
From the oldest vines in the vineyard, 0.55 hectares planted in 1934 and 1936, the 2012 Richebourg Grand Cru has an aristocratic bouquet with broody dark berry fruit, forest floor and wet limestone scents. It is very well-defined although it needs a lot of coaxing, like waking up an old gentleman snoozing in his favorite chair. The palate is medium-bodied with dense, robust tannins. Conservative, foursquare even – this is a masculine Richebourg that is defined by its stern, almost aloof personality that seems incongruous for the vintage. Powerful and long, give bottles at least 10 years. Though I have met Thibault Liger-Belair several times in the melee of the London Burgundy tastings, this was actually the first time that I had visited his cellars, stationed on the busy RN74 artery as it swerves through the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges. He actually started on the communication side of the wine business, before relocating from Paris and establishing the domaine in 2001. In case you were wondering (as I was) he is distantly related to Louis-Michel Liger-Belair in Vosne: their great-grandfathers were brothers. The barrel cellars lie below the grand maison that on first appearances is spacious for a Burgundy domaine. That might be because of the depletion of yields in recent vintages, Thibault’s 2012 averaging only 16 hectoliters per hectare on average. Still, this is a vigneron that has expanded his holdings in recent years, most recently into Moulin-a-Vent in Beaujolais, whose notes I have included here for no lesser reason than they are too bloody good to just sit on. Thibault told me that he stumbled across a Beaujolais grower who was blissfully unaware of the currency of old vine material. “I was shocked when I asked him how old the vines were,” he recalled with glee. “He did not know their age exactly. But he was 80 years old, and he said that when he was a boy, they were referred to as ‘vieilles vignes’!” I have always found Thibault an easygoing person, candid with his views, one of the most garrulous winemakers in the region. Gregory Gouges forewarned that if I videoed Thibault, I would be unable to make him stop talking, which my interviewee admitted was true before commencing his oration. But that is no bad thing when you are a young, ambitious winemaker galvanized by what you are doing and the tenets you bring to your wines that are invariably top drawer. Burgundy and Nuits-Saint-Georges in particular, need people like Thibault. Overall, these were astutely crafted wines that expressed their terroir with panache. Sure, there is a couple that seemed a little “iffy”, for example the “crazy” Charmes-Chambertin, but otherwise the passion that Thibault shows as a winemaker is translated into the passion shown by his wines. N.B. Subscribers can watch a video I took of Thibault discussing the vintage, filmed in his cellars in Nuits-Saint-Georges. I begin with Thibault’s quartet of impressive Beaujolais wines. Having experienced a 1934 Fleurie, he is convinced that there is immense untapped potential in this region (to which I agree.) Moving to the Cote d’Or, Thibault showed me through his barrel samples from the negoce side of the business (labelled “Thibault Liger-Belair Successeurs”) and from his own vineyards (labelled “Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair”.) Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802 and through Berry Brothers & Rudd in UK.
About the Producer
Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair is located in Nuits-Saint-Georges, a sub-appellation of the Cote de Nuits in Burgundy, France, and is a historic boutique estate within the appellation. Château Thibaud has 7.25 hectares of vineyards in five wine-producing villages, including Vaughan-Romanée, Vougeot, Nuits-Saint-Georges and Gevrey Chambertin. Château Thibaud is a natural winery, and its organic farming methods have been recognised by ECOCERT. In order to cultivate the best grapes through biodynamic practices, Château Thibaud closely monitors the vine's growth cycle and creates the ideal conditions for the grapes to grow, taking into account the changes in weather, the seasons and planetary movements. Each year, Château Thibaud adapts its winemaking methods and techniques to the ripeness and quality of the grapes. However, the same applies to the selection of the best and healthiest grapes, which are hand-picked and selected by hand each year. To ensure that the original flavour of the wine is not compromised, the winery adheres to the principle of minimum intervention, reducing manual work at all stages, such as the use of less cap pressing or only gentle cap pressing, controlled pumping of unfermented must, etc. In addition, the wines are matured in oak barrels for 12 to 18 months, depending on the village where the grapes are produced and the ripeness of the year. The choice of barrels is made with great care at Château Tibor. Taking into account the texture and origin of the barrels, the barrels are allowed to dry for 3 years before being used to give the wines a more refined and supple tannin profile. To ensure that the flavour of the wine is not disturbed by the oak, Château Thibaud never uses barrels that are more than half new. However, at Château Thibaud, an old barrel has a maximum life expectancy of three years. The wines are not filtered or clarified during the vinification, maturation or bottling stages, in order to preserve their full structure and natural flavours. The first vintage of Château Tippel was released in 2002 and was very well received by consumers and critics alike for its fruity, smooth tannins, fine layers and unique flavour.
