"Clos de la Roche" MCMLV Grand Cru AOC 2023 1500ml Magnum

MCMLV is the Roman numeral for 1955, the year the vines from which this wine is exclusively made were planted. Laurent Lignier has bottled this harvest separately since 2017, as a tribute to his grandfather Henri Lignier. The result is a Pinot Noir of cool clarity, precisely drawn and built for length. In magnum format, it ages more slowly.

In the Monts Luisants climat, at the upper edge of the Clos de la Roche Grand Cru in Morey-Saint-Denis, stand twenty-seven rows of vines that Henri Lignier planted in 1955. They are the genetic origin of the estate: in the 1960s he propagated their wood through mass selection to replant the other plots, vine by vine. The family has grown Pinot Noir in Morey-Saint-Denis since the 1880s, and Laurent Lignier has led it since 2013, as the fifth generation.

Pure Pinot Noir. The old vines tend toward millerandage, bearing tiny, often seedless berries of high concentration. Fermentation is preceded by long, cool maceration periods, with the proportion of whole clusters having grown over the years. Laurent Lignier deliberately holds back on new oak, spreading it across four coopers so that no single barrel leaves its mark on the wine. The cellar, built in 2008, works by gravity alone, from the must to the bottling. Synthetic products have been absent from the vineyards since 2007.

A silky flow, carried by dark cherry, raspberry and cassis, followed by violet, fine oak and a mineral touch of damp limestone. The tannin is fine-grained and well integrated, the freshness keeps the fruit in tension, and the finish remains long and spicy. 13.5% ABV, dry.

With saddle of wild boar with wild mushrooms, saddle of venison or coq au vin. Also with wild mushroom risotto and, on the cheese board, aged Époisses or Comté.

Barely two barrels per vintage; this bottle ranks among the most sought-after Pinot Noirs of the entire Côte de Nuits.