Liger-Belair - Nuits St Georges, Les Cras 1er Cru 2008

Robert Parker 93/100 With deeper color and sweeter fruit (black raspberry, elderberry) than its Vosne counterparts, Liger-Belair’s 2008 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Cras offers a sappy fruit intensity underlain by peat-like smokiness and suffused with fine tannin and an impression of crushed stone. The poor soil and over 90 year-old vines are no doubt factors in this Pinot’s striking concentration. “These vines bear small bunches with tiny berries,” remarks the wine’s author, “the kind I call ‘the real Pinot Noir.’” Suggestions of raw meat and a mouth-watering salinity join the berry fruit and chalkiness of a vibrant, palate-staining finish. Follow it for 12-15 years.&nbspLouis-Michel Liger-Belair’s 2008 collection strikes me as hands-down his best so far, and he is inclined to agree. But the quality of his 2007s also bespeaks increasing mastery of technique focusing of his aesthetic (and a more focused resultant style) and certainly too, greater familiarity with his vineyards, a substantial portion of which (as explained in issue 186) was only acquired in 2006. (Liger-Belair would also put emphasis on the accumulated effect of a biodynamic regimen, including deep horse-plowing for the estate’s top acreage.) Malos were not inordinately late in this relatively warm cellar, and bottling of the 2008s took place between mid-January and late March, three weeks after which I tasted the wines. “The big deal,” opines Liger-Belair, “was – a bit of rot, of course, but – the major problem was rose, pink grapes. So my primary goal was to be at the beginning of the sorting table to pick out bunches” that harbored some of those berries, an imperfection that evidently could easily be missed. Liger-Belair continues to experiment with the inclusion of stems and whole clusters, although he limited this vendange entier approach in both the 2007 and 2008 vintages, lest any greenness intrude. Finished alcohols on the 2008s range from the low 12’s to low 13’s with only a minor amount of chaptalization performed on certain cuvees.