Bright ruby-red. Black raspberry, licorice and dark chocolate on the slightly reduced nose, with a spicy quality emerging with air. Wonderfully plush, concentrated and velvety, conveying a spherical impression of volume that has something in common with the Saint-Georges. The black cherry flavor is complicated by hints of earth and flowers and enlivened by saline minerality. This edge-free wine maintains its freshness on the back end, finishing with fine, dusty, building tannins and lovely perfume. At this point in our tasting, Liger-Belair noted that in some vineyards in 2016, he lost 40% of his grapes to frost and another 20% to galloping mildew, noting that he was late on one vineyard treatment and spent the following weeks in reaction mode.

The 2015 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru has a very intense bouquet, quite exotic in style, with just a touch of VA blurring the edges. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannin. This comes across as a rather overbearing Clos de Vougeot, determined to impress and without the subtlety and nuance you seek in a grand cru . Showy, but with not enough to back it all up. Like the Les Saint-Georges, this is an underwhelming showing and I will seek to revisit this wine. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.

Round and sweet. Notably smooth and dense. Very exciting with notes of torrefaction. Really quite dramatic. (JR)