Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru "Aux Combottes" AOC 2023

A coolly etched Pinot Noir, vinified dry. The house's signature lies in dark cherry, fine-grained tannin and a long, clear finish, rather than in sheer power.

Aux Combottes is the only premier cru island right in the middle of the grand cru band, wedged between Clos de la Roche and Latricières-Chambertin. The Lignier family has farmed Pinot Noir in Morey-Saint-Denis since the 1880s: Jacques Lignier bought parcels devalued by phylloxera, his son Jules replanted them, Hubert Lignier took over management in 1959 and began estate-bottling himself from 1973. Today, Laurent Lignier runs the estate, the fifth generation.

Single-varietal Pinot Noir. Long, cool maceration periods precede fermentation, with the share of whole clusters having grown over the years. The cellar in Morey, acquired in 2008, works purely by gravity — from the must to bottling, no pump touches the wine. New oak is deliberately restrained and spread across four coopers so that no single barrel dominates the wine. Synthetic treatments have been absent from the vineyards since 2007.

Taut and precisely delineated, with black berries, forest herbs and a touch of undergrowth. Lively acidity, fine-grained tannin, clear finish.

Twenty-seven rows of vines planted by Henri Lignier in 1955 at the upper edge of Clos de la Roche are the origin of the estate's plant material: from their wood, he propagated the other parcels by selection in the 1960s, vine by vine. Bottled by Domaine Hubert Lignier in Morey Saint Denis.