Michael Schuster tastes the 2023 Comte Liger-Belair range.
For the 2022 vintage there were substantial changes to the Comte Liger-Belair vineyard holdings—the “Lamarche additions,” an increase of nearly 40% in the area under vine (see WFW 85, pp.86–88)—but there have been no changes since.
The vintage
2023 was the warmest year in Burgundy for the past quarter-century, something we seem to say of practically each new vintage now, and there was an intense late-August and early-September heatwave on already almost perfectly ripe grapes. But in the end, two important mitigating factors were a relatively cool July and plentiful summer rain when and where it was needed. The year in the vineyards was straightforward, and benign weather for both budbreak and flowering meant that there was the potential for a particularly generous crop. Yet for all the climate-change “heat,” this was a year that—given attentive green-harvesting (to control excessive yield), and well-judged picking dates (crucial to avoid overripeness), followed by light-touch winemaking—produced wines with no sense, in style or in taste, of a “hot” vintage.
The harvest
Comte Liger-Belair started to harvest on September 4, picking for a week, from 7am to 1pm in order to keep fruit, and pickers, cool as far as practical. The grapes were absolutely healthy and fully, freshly, deliciously ripe at a natural 13–13.5% ABV, with no need for chaptalization. The crop was just 5% smaller than the very plentiful 2022, and the quality was similarly excellent. Louis-Michel’s observation on his wines was: “The qualities are due to viticultural know-how and perfectly judged picking dates.” Self-promoting? Well, you simply cannot argue with the result—the wines are an absolute delight.
Related
Style, quality, and alongside 2022
The 2023 Comte Liger-Belair range is joyous. Pure, sunny, exuberantly vital expressions of Burgundy, with perfume, complexity, finesse of texture, and length. Vineyard quality and stylistic distinctions remain, as always, crystal-clear; and in fact the 2023s have much in common with the 2022s, which makes a brief comparison worthwhile.
2023’s yield was just 5% less than the very plentiful 2022’s, and their quality, and qualities, are often very close. The 2023s in general have a touch less density than their respective 2022s, and while the Comte Liger-Belair ’22s are not wines of notable substance (there are more structured expressions of top 2022 Burgundy), mostly they have a bit more matter, structure, and slightly firmer tannins than the 2023s. Both vintages are so fine-textured and with such succulently ripe fruit that both will be rewarding surprisingly soon. The ’23s will likely be even earlier to access, and earlier to bid goodbye to, but with the harmony to age rewardingly, too. It doesn’t really matter much, since each range is so naturally delicious. The ’23 Grands Echézeaux was a particular standout. The 2023s especially are wines with huge smiles on their faces—smiles that perhaps prompted Louis-Michel’s comment that “I’m happier and happier every year I do this job!”
Tasting 2023 Comte Liger-Belair
With Comte Liger-Belair and Justerini & Brooks, his UK agent, at The Aubrey, Mandarin Oriental, London; April 29, 2025
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2023 Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Clos des Grandes Vignes Monopole Blanc (vat sample)
MS: A very fragrant, floral nose, white peach and linden blossom—just lovely—and persistent. Full, fresh, nicely concentrated, beautifully balanced wine; both rich and fresh in flavor, fruit-vital, juicy, long to taste, with a clear premier cru class and scope, and a marked vitality, energy, and scented, citrusy length. Enormously appealing, both supple and fleshy yet so freshly defined. A long and graceful, lovely mid-rank premier cru white Burgundy, complete, effortless, full of class and pleasure. A most rewarding, beautiful “come-hither” expression of the cru. Now to 2033. | 93–93+
2023 Nuits-St-Georges Aux Lavières (Bottled)
NB: Pale to mid-ruby, with an even gradation through pale violet. Arrestingly pure from the first sniff, and with commensurate, resultant, gentle intensity—so captivating and completely effortless. A beautiful, subtle amalgam of light, perfectly ripe cherry and Victoria plum, but also fresher, “redder” fruit, more raspberry than cranberry or redcurrant, but all so subtle that no single fruit descriptor would ever suffice. Gentle, soft spice but also a fleeting reminder of its noble vegetal origins and a clean, earthy, iron, and red-licorice inflection. Distinctive and intriguing while retaining a classical beauty. Gorgeous, layered silken texture, the perfect welterweight, perfectly paced, with a controlled, gentle vigor, completely at ease with itself. Well sustained through the mid-palate, with a natural freshness from the fully integrated, perfectly poised acidity. No grain to the tannin but enough concentration from these 75-year-old vines to shape and support. Fine, gracefully flourishing finish, with mouth-coating perfume and remarkable gentle length for the level. An exceptional Lavières and a treat for those lucky enough to have any of the 300 bottles from this bijou parcel. Now to 2040. | 92–93
2023 Vosne-Romanée (vat sample)
NB: Pale to mid-ruby. Another very beguiling fragrance, beautifully balanced, fresh, and transparent, but with a little more, subtle Vosne spice than the Nuits-St-Georges Aux Lavières. Rare to find all at once such aérien lift, such intensity, and such exoticism in a village cuvée ronde. Again, an earthy grounding, but entirely clean and wholesome; an almost cherry-menthol freshness, while being perfectly ripe, with light floral (peony, violet) notes on top. Medium-bodied, accessible, open, flowing, and richly silky, a little less focused than the Lavières, being a blend of 12 parcels and not yet having had its final polish pre-bottling, but still hugely and immediately pleasing and seductive. Gently coating but again no grain or rub to the tannin, and excellent freshness all the way through the moderately long finish. Not the greatest concentration or complexity among the village wines—but joyous, generous, ingratiating, and impossible not to like. 2028–38+. | 90
2023 Vosne-Romanée La Colombière (vat sample)
MS: Mid-purple. A quite “fat,” freshly ripe, red-cherry presence on the nose; medium-full, lovely balance, moderately rich, fresh in acidity, gently, finely tannic. Plump, juicy, and pleasing, with an abundance of ripe fruit, a modest complexity but nicely sustained across the palate, and with very good length. A most satisfying village presence; a mass of fruit at the level and a little tannin to lose over a few years, but delicious already. 2028–38+. | 90–91
2023 Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas (vat sample)
NB: Pale ruby, lighter in hue than the Vosne-Romanée La Colombière. A fine, subtle, enigmatic, aromatic cloud, with hints of cherry, even a little strawberry; clean and pure but a little less precise than the Colombière. Round, silky, supple, almost luxuriant in texture, if not quite so finely multilayered as the Colombìere. Still, very good balance, elegance, freshness, and grace, almost a light race, an effortless canter, and more precision and tension than on the nose. Lovely poise and a bright, gently energetic flourish on the finish. Youthful charm, innocence, and controlled exuberance. 2030–40. | 91–92
2023 Vosne-Romanée Clos du Château Monopole (bottled)
MS: Pale ruby. Sweet, subtle, mineral-infused, and currently gently reductive, as it so often is. Medium-full, a beautifully balanced mid-weight wine, moderately concentrated, freshly defined, lightly, finely tannic; sweet, fresh, long, graceful, gently mouth-coating, notably perfumed at the level and, as so often, a very classy village wine—less “fat” than the Colombière, more subtlety and fragrance, and with marked length. A lovely Clos du Château that, tasted blind, you would put as a fine “lesser” premier cru. A really beautiful expression of this wine. Accessible now—years in hand. Now to 2040. | 92
2023 Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Aux Cras (bottled)
MS: Mid-red. A heady bouquet already, ripe red-cherry-sweet, fragrant, persistent, rich, subtly minerally—so seductive so early! Beautifully balanced, not big but elegant, very finely tannic, gently fresh, with an overall toothsome vitality. Long, gentle, even wine, subtle, fine, mid-rank premier cru quality, and with very nice length mirroring the nose. Very Pinot-transparent, a touch of Nuits-St-Georges vim, but overall very “Vosne-side” in style. Will drink with pleasure early. 2030–43+. | 91
2023 Nuits-St-Georges Premier Cru Clos des Grandes Vignes Monopole Rouge (vat sample)
MS: Deepish red. Dense, much more primary than the Cras to smell, with a concentrated, crisply, sweetly ripe core fruit, on the way to black cherry—persistent, complex, mineral, and seeming to presage a wine packed in matter. Full, fairly concentrated, fresh in acidity, gently muscular in tannin, clear in its Nuits-St-Georges character and proportions; a fine, deep, midweight presence, long and sappy to taste, particularly fine-grained in texture, subtle, long across the palate, even, succulent in fruit, and with great length to follow. A most complete and graceful expression of this cru. So fine-textured it will give much pleasure relatively early… but with years to go, of course. 2030-40+. | 93–93+
2023 Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru La Croix Rameau (bottled)
MS: Mid-red. Here, too, like the Cras, a particularly pristine, well-defined, sweetly red-cherry-ripe aroma, a touch of whole-bunch herbal character, finely mineral. Rich midweight wine, fresh, very fine in tannin—a beautiful, delicate balance; long, easy, and graceful, sweet and subtle to taste, racy and intricate across the palate, joyous in fruit and fragrance, very long and fragrant to finish. Complete, archetypal, fine premier cru Vosne-Romanée, with so much grace, delicacy, perfume. 2032–43+. | 94
2023 Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Petits Monts (bottled)
MS: Mid-red. Especially perfumed to smell, softly, roundly ripe, very subtly mineral, persistent, detailed, the merest hint of herbal; medium-full, supple, gently fleshy, very delicate in tannin, an easy, up-front drink-me balance. Gentle, juicy, round, and plump, moderate in scope, with a lovely, gently rich fruit presence. Perhaps not the finesse and perfume of the best premier crus here, but with its fruit persistence a mirror to its lovely fruit core. Ideally give it a little time to soften and integrate. 2030–43+. | 92
2023 Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Aux Reignots (cask sample)
MS: Mid-red. Hauntingly beautiful to smell, even from cask; intense, fragrant, subtle, freshly defined, floral, glass-filling, so seductive just to nose. Medium-full, fresh to lively, very fine-textured, a gorgeous balance; so gently, gracefully sweet in flavor, all delicacy and translucence, packed with perfume, and gently, insistently racy in gentle energy. Long, top-notch premier cru class, touching a less dense grand cru style, and very persistent in perfume to finish. Not big, but so full of class, scope, finesse, and the essence of Vosne-Romanée. Glorious wine, if not quite (from memory) the presence and density of its 2022, but oh-so complete. As almost always, a magnificent premier cru—really a more delicate grand cru in all but name. A great reward whenever! But perhaps at its peak 2033–50+. | 94–95
2023 Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Aux Malconsorts (vat sample)
MS: A paler mid-red. Fruit-dominant to smell, dense, red-cherry, mineral-backed, tight by comparison with the preceding wines, a touch unyielding in the context of the year; rich mid-weight, compact and concentrated, fruit-packed, finely but firmly tannic, lively in acidity, a fairly structured wine in the lineup, but very nicely balanced all the same. Long and fruit-rich, with a notable matter for the vintage, a fleshy presence and clear, gentle inner energy; top premier cru class in a fruit-emphatic, rather than perfume-pronounced, style. Satisfying, flushed with finesse, long in core-fruit persistence, gratifyingly complete and even. Will need time to yield and blossom. 2035–50+. | 94–94+
2023 Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru (vat sample)
MS: Mid-purple. A fine and surprisingly perfumed nose for Clos de Vougeot; subtle, sweetly ripe red cherry, with a striking persistence in the glass. Complex and gently mineral behind a lovely fruit presence; rich and full, at the year’s mid-weight level, beautifully balanced, notably fine in bearing for Vougeot; refined in tannin, fresh in acidity, a fruit depth of a different order from all the preceding wines—rich and juicy, both flesh and class, with a lovely inner energy. Long, racy, classy wine, with none of the coarseness sometimes associated with this huge vineyard; prolonged, even, and satisfying, packed with fruit, but without any sense of excess or effort, particularly lingering to finish. A sort of finer, more complete Malconsorts in style, with more matter, less fragrance than the Reignots, at a similar level of quality. 2040–55+. | 94–95
2023 Echézeaux Grand Cru (vat sample)
MS: Pale to mid-purple. Subtle and fragrant but, today, fairly tight, closed. Full, a balance of great finesse, very fine-grained in tannin, fresh in acidity, a beauteous overall harmony. Rich mid-weight, long and fine, a lovely combination of both fruit and fragrance, subtle, racy, elegant, even, full of gentle complexity, long and gratifying and with great length to follow. A bit more breadth to this than the Reignots (itself perhaps sweeter, even more beautiful), if not much! A fine rather than a “grand” grand cru; very lovely all the same. Although a delight even now, a touch of firmness indicates a few years more for a more comprehensive satisfaction. 2033–50+. | 95–95+
2023 Grands-Echézeaux Grand Cru (vat sample)
MS: This 0.30ha (0.7-acre) of Grands-Echézeaux was the most illustrious addition to the Comte Liger-Belair holdings at the end of 2021. Last year I wrote of it, “A fine grand cru, no question, but in this initial Comte Liger-Belair iteration, it is without the class, detail, perfume, and finesse of the Echézeaux itself, at a slightly more reduced scale. But just give its vines, soil, and roots time to be fully understood—a ‘score’ (in the musical sense) that needs close reading in the super-attentive, biodynamic hands and eyes of Louis-Michel—and then it won’t be long. Provisional score 93–95.” It wasn’t long at all. Just look at this year’s note. Explained by Louis-Michel, when I asked him “How come?,” as “Essentially just a better understanding of the climat.”
Deepish purple. A wondrously subtle ripe-cherry and floral-fragrant combination to smell, with much more to the nose than the straight Echézeaux. A superbly proportioned, rich mid-weight, finely fresh in acidity, silken in tannin—a gorgeous balance here; rich, effortlessly packed with subtlety and race, prolonged to taste, very gently mouth-coating and mouth-filling, with perfume, great length of flavor, great subtlety of expression, enormous class and delicacy. A very beautiful wine, such presence at such a mezzopiano dynamic. A great step up from last year’s initial performance by Louis-Michel. And a clear quality distinction between this and the “straight” Echézeaux this year. Drink 2038–58+. | 97–97+
2023 La Romanée Grand Cru Monopole (vat sample)
MS: Pale red. Relatively closed, but an oh-so-subtle nose, so much complexity within the delicacy—glass-filling, tempting to linger, lovely. Medium-full, fresh, very finely textured, a beautifully harmonious balance. Sweet, gentle, long, perfumed, graceful wine—impossible not to compare to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s Romanée-Conti for its combination of restraint, complexity, and scope all at once; so packed with perfume, so transparent, so intense without strength or force. Effortlessly prolonged, full of inner energy, with so much to draw one’s attention, to focus on. Sweet and fresh, so delicate and yet so intense, a great, restrained Romanée-Conti-like wine. An absolute beauty. A great treat at any moment, but fully blossomed expression will likely need at least 15 years. Magnificent wine. 2040–70+. | 97–98
