The World of Fine Wine über:
Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru
-- The World of Fine Wine: Jacques divides this into 11 different parcels, which are vinified and aged separately. This will be assembled in the spring, but it’s not a blend as such, since the wine is a proper representation of all parcels: Jacques does not select. We tasted three samples—a diagonal, from the bottom, MSD side, to the top on the south side. “There is a level of diversity in this grand cru that has existed since 1365. We have to make all the parcels separately to understand the diversity of this climat,” remarks Jacques. Plante Bas: 43-year-old vines at the bottom of the vineyard on the MSD side. All the fruit from here is destemmed and vinified with no SO2. Black-cherry, expressive fruit, but also quite an earthy aroma. A deep, earthy, and savory-sooty palate. Lots of tannins. Chewy. Not very long. 80 Ouvrées Milieu: This is in the center of the vineyard. All the fruit from these old vines, planted in 1934, is vinified as whole bunches. This is more restrained on the aroma but also the most concentrated. A satin texture on the attack, super-fresh, slightly stalky and vivacious. Snappy and much longer on the finish. Really persistent. Very good indeed. 50 Ouvrées Haut. The vines here are also old, planted in 1938, and all the fruit is also vinified as whole bunches. A perfumed, somewhat “high-toned” aroma, quite exotic and warm. Leaner on the palate, keen, spiky, and tart, with a slightly bitter finish. “Compact limestone and very austere,” says Jacques. I find this too dry. But both samples I tried came from barrels that had not been racked, while the sample of the 80 Ouvrées came from a barrel that had been. And finally, the assemblage of all 11 parcels that represents the wine for 2023. “Amazing terroir. It is an orchestra, with all these different parcels,” observes Jacques. Here there is the richness of mulberry fruit and spice on the aroma. But the palate is more refined than the nose suggested. So very aromatic. A perfumed, lightly purple palate, which carries to a lingering, floral, and slightly exotic finish. It is intense, very finely textured and delicate, yet the palate is expansive. Wafts on a long—so very long—and aromatic finish. As Jacques remarks, “Something happens when you put the wine together.” He is making a very different Clos des Lambrays from that of his immediate predecessors. Now Clos des Lambrays is intense yet delicate, precise and finely textured. A wine with great aromatic persistence.