Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair, Chambolle-Musigny, Premier Cru 2016

This wine is typically labeled as a Premier Cru from the vineyard of Gruenchers. However in 2016, the hail damage was so severe that Thibault blended together the best fruit from the Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru vineyards that he has access to to make a Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru wine. The resulting wine in no way suffered and it has serious class.

I originally had this wine special ordered for a customer via pre-sell. After a year of waiting we were surprised to learn that not even the importer (or the person in charge of the presell anyway) knew about the de-classification of the wine. My customer decided to pass on the wine as he really wanted the single vineyard wine for the price point. I was surprised to find these bottles still in my suppliers warehouse and they are now a relative bargain. Since they were now a bit dusty (the wooden box had been previously cracked open to check on them), I felt the need to taste one of these puppies. And wow, it is good.

The ripe strawberry coupled with intense minerality takes me back to a great bottle of Vogue Chambolle-Musigny I once had. This may be one of my favorite wines in stock right now to either drink or easily hold with improvement over the next 10-15 years.