2012 Chambolle Musigny Vieilles Vignes

(vinified with about 40% whole clusters; no pigeage for this wine in 2012): Bright medium red. Very ripe aromas and flavors of red cherry and redcurrant. In a distinctly creamy, tender style, showing good extract and a rather soft finish. A very gently extracted wine.

Lignier's 2012 Chambolle Musigny Vieilles Vignes caresses the palate with grace and a total sense of finesse. Sweet red berries and flowers are some of the notes found in the glass, but above all else, the 2012 is really a wine of silkiness and pure texture. Mid-weight and gracious throughout, the 2012 is another delicious, impeccable wine to enjoy over the next handful of years.

The 2012 Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes comes from two parcels of 60-year old vines. It has a well-defined and generous bouquet with pine-tinged red berry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy, spicy opening. The oak is again, quite prominent at the moment as you would expect, but there will sufficient fruite to absorb that wood by the time of bottling. Fine. My second visit to see Virgile Lignier, cousin of Laurent Lignier at Domaine Hubert Lignier, did not go to plan. With the winery seemingly empty, I wondered whether he had forgotten our rendezvous. I soon discovered that the original domaine is tucked away within the village of Morey Saint Denis, and that like many, expansion has meant that they had to move elsewhere to make their wines. Virgile finally appeared driving a forklift truck loading wines destined for my homeland (incidentally I wonder how many Bordeaux proprietors have such a license?) Still, we eventually sat down to taste his 2012s that had been racked mid-September and were now in tank. I have to admit, having heard so many bon mots about Lignier-Michelot, the 2011s had not swept me off my feet back last July, though I could see the potential. However, the 2012s are a different matter and showed more complexity and nuance. The harvest here commenced a little later than others on 27 September, though not as tardy as Laurent Ponsot up the road.