2011 Gevrey Chambertin Les Combottes
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Tasting notes
Medium red. Discreet, pure nose offers redcurrant, crushed stone and a high-pitched floral note. Juicy, pure, penetrating and deep, offering good thickness for the year without any impression of weightiness. At once tighter and more perfumed in the mid-palate than the Perrieres. The wine's dark fruit flavors are complicated by a whiff of leather. Serious, ripe tannins saturate the mouth and front teeth. Excellent cut and energy here, but this beauty will need a good six to eight years in the cellar.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2011 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combettes comes from a parcel bought by Hubert Lignier himself back in 1959 when the vines were just three years old. It sees 40% new oak. The nose is subtle at first, refined and bashful, but give it a few swirls and a very sophisticated bouquet of pure fresh strawberry and raspberry emerges that is beautifully defined and displays greater mineralite than the La Perriere. The palate is very well-balanced with a stony opening, good backbone and a tightly-wound tannic finish that is precise and maybe too abrupt at the moment. Still, this has great potential. Drink 2015-2025. Domaine Hubert Lignier is another Morey-St-Denis estate that I have followed and visited for a number of years, a period that has been turbulent to say the least. I have always appreciated Hubert's classic style of wine and his tenets have been instilled in his son, Laurent. It was he who led me through the tasting of impressive 2011s at their cellar under a magnificent cedar overlooking the Route Nationale, though Hubert popped in to say, "Bonjour." Laurent explained that the vineyards are now in their third year of organic viticulture although he has no intention of seeking certification. This was a strong set of pure, sensual, quite intellectual wines that I feel deserve more recognition, exhibiting prudent use of oak, ample freshness and wonderful expression of their terroirs not dissimilar to Lalou Bize-Leroy. Quantities are often very small as they home in on individual lieux-dits, though prices remain reasonable. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990