| Region of production: | Côte d’Or |
| Winery Location: | Morey-Saint-Denis |
| Year Established: | 1880 |
Vineyard Holdings
9 ha
- Clos de la Roche Grand Cru: 1 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1970 and 1980
- Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru: 0.1 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1975
- Gevrey-Chambertin Aux Combottes Premier Cru: 0.14 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1972
- Gevrey-Chambertin Perrière Premier Cru: 0.2 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1972
- Morey-Saint-Denis Chaffots Premier Cru: 0.6 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1984
- Morey-Saint-Denis Blanchards Premier Cru: 0.3 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1980
- Morey-Saint-Denis Clos Baulet Premier Cru: 0.22 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1994
- Chambolle-Musigny Les Baudes Premier Cru: 0.17 ha Pinot Noir, planted in 1975
Top Wines Produced & Inaugural Vintages
- Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
- Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru
- Gevrey-Chambertin Aux Combottes Premier Cru
- Gevrey-Chambertin Perrière Premier Cru: Inaugural vintage 2010.
- Morey-Saint-Denis “Vieilles Vignes” Premier Cru: from a contiguous old vine parcel in the premier crus Faconnières and Chenevery
- Morey-Saint-Denis Chaffots Premier Cru
- Morey-Saint-Denis Blanchards Premier Cru
- Morey-Saint-Denis Clos Baulet Premier Cru
- Chambolle-Musigny Les Baudes Premier Cru
- Nuits-Saint-Georges Poisets Premier Cru: Inaugural vintage 2010.
- Pommard Chanlin Premier Cru: Inaugural vintage 2009
Average Total Production
- N/A
Summary
Hubert Lignier’s domaine became one of the better quality domaines in Morey-Saint-Denis when he began domaine-bottling in the 1980s. His son Romain joined him in 1991 and the wines continued to improve in quality. Sadly, Romain passed away in 2004 at the age of 34, leaving two small children and his American wife Kellen. At the time, the Hubert Lignier vineyards were in the process of being passed on to the next generation, with Romain and Kellen taking on a métayage contract for a portion of the vineyards. After Romain’s untimely death, there were disagreements between the Lignier family, who wanted to continue to farm the parcels, and Kellen, who wanted to pass Romain’s patrimony on to their children. Like many inheritance issues involving vineyard land in France, the family disagreement was long and difficult, but as of 2014 it appears the land has reverted to the Lignier family, with Hubert and his other son Laurent farming the parcels and making wine under the Domaine Hubert Lignier label. (Kellen had bottled her share of the vineyards under her children’s names, Domaine Lucie et Auguste Lignier). The vineyards have been farmed under lutte raisonnée principles for over thirty years, with no herbicides. All replanting is done by sélection massale rather than clonal selections. The family controls yields by a strict pruning and a green harvest is performed if necessary. This is an exemplary domaine for concentrated, long-lived Burgundy.
Style & Vinification Techniques
The Lignier wines are powerful and concentrated. The grapes are sorted in the vineyard and again in the winery prior to being completely de-stemmed. Laurent prefers to start fermentation with a five-day cold soak (his father did not) before a natural start to fermentation. Pigéage takes place only during the 15-20 day cuvaison; after the wine is pressed it ages in up to 20-30% new oak for village wines and up to 50% new oak for premier and grand cru wines. The village wines age for up to 18 months in oak, while premiers and grands crus spend 20-24 months in oak. The wines are not fined or filtered prior to bottling.
Producer Website: Hubert Lignier