NEW RELEASE: 2023 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru - 'beautifully made with rare distinction' JM

NEW RELEASE: 2023 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru - 'beautifully made with rare distinction' JM

NEW RELEASE: 
2023 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru - 'beautifully made with rare distinction' JM
 
The 2023 ranks alongside the 2022 and may even surpass it.
Neal Martin, vinous.com, January 2025

2023 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru, Domaine des Lambrays
£1,320 per 3 bottle case in bond


I tasted the 2023 range at the domaine in November last year. I have just tasted again in London this week. The purity and aromatic expression of the 2023 Clos des Lambrays are truly breathtaking. The harmony and balance, the poise and precision are of a wine that could be enjoyed now but which will become something astonishing over decades to come.

Domaine des Lambrays is so clearly a domaine in the ascendant.

Bought by LVMH in 2014, it has been the beneficiary of significant investment. Under the leadership of the incredibly talented Jacques Devauges, formerly winemaker at Clos de Tart and Domaine de l’Arlot, quality has soared. The potential had always been there but it had perhaps not been capitalised on with the regularity or consistency of this new era.

When Jacques arrived in 2019, viticulture became organic and in 2020 biodynamic methods were embraced. The Clos des Lambrays itself is characterised by varied soils and aspects in a vineyard that varies in orientation, due to an undulating nature, in a way few other Grand Cru of Burgundy do. Jacques has taken a ‘parcellaire’ approach, as have so many leading wine estates in Burgundy, France and around the world. To facilitate this separate treatment of each of the 11 distinct plots, a completely new wine-making facility and cellar have been constructed. Consequently, from the 2022 vintage, not a single pump has been used or seen in the winery. Instead, a technically tailored system, which uses two tanks in the centre of the winery that operate, for ease of visualisation, as two lifts/ elevators, have made this all rather simple. Though it did, of course, take rigorous reflection on every stage of production followed by meticulous planning to ensure that the dream of ‘gravity from grape to bottle’ could be realised flawlessly. The winery was built around the process rather than being made to work in what existed. But this is Jacques Devauges and this is LVMH.

LVMH have clear intentions to make this one of the most revered domaines of Burgundy. The expansion of Domaine des Lambrays is under way. There were just over 9 hectares when LVMH took over. Soon this will be 15 hectares after the addition of very carefully selected vineyard additions over recent years including: Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Crus La Richemone, Les Murgers and Les Cras, Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts, Morey-Saint-Denis village, Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Crus Les Loups, Clos Baulet and Clos Sorbè, and more recently Ruchottes-Chambertin, Romanée-Saint Vivant, Corton-Charlemagne and Corton Bressandes. But none of this expansion has been at the expense of quality. Quite the opposite. It has intensified the passion and energy that are evident in every aspect of the domaine’s work.

In Jacques’ opinion, there are but 5 truly great Grands Crus of the Cote de Nuits (though he does pair up a couple of them to aid his narrative..) (1) Chambertin and Close de Bèze, (2) Musigny, (3) La Romanée and Romanée-Conti, (4) La Tâche, and, finally – would you have guessed it – (5) Clos des Lambrays. But with his drive, energy and vision, together with the full backing of LVMH, maybe he will manifest this truth? The quality so obvious to all in the last few years does not necessarily contradict him.

2023 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru, Domaine des Lambrays
£1,320 per 3 bottle case in bond

95-98 points, Jasper Morris, insideburgundy.com, November 2024
The 11 plots were made separately and reunited just before the bottling. The terroir delimited in 1365 rests whole, with nothing declassified. Intense black purple with some glycerol legs. Sweetly dark fruit with the whole bunches hidden. A multitude of different red fruit notes speed across the palate and then the stems do show a little, gracefully, at the finish, along with some oak. As with La Richemone one can see that this vintage is not as concentrated as the previous one, but the wine has been beautifully made with rare distinction. Fine tannins to finish. Drink from 2033-2045

96-98 points, Neal Martin, vinous.com, January 2025
Eleven different cuvées combine to form the 2023 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru, with every square meter contributing to the blend, to quote Jacques Devauges verbatim (as an aside, this is the same philosophy at Cheval Blanc, which is also on LVMH's mantelpiece). This vintage includes 80% whole bunch and was raised in 60% new oak. The bouquet is very expressive with ebullient red berry fruit, tobacco, forest floor and subtle aromas of ceps. The palate is medium-bodied with fine yet firm tannins that lend backbone and gentle grip. This fans out with style on the sapid finish with a liberal sprinkling of black pepper. The 2023 ranks alongside the 2022 and may even surpass it. Drink 2029-2065




Richard

richard.omahony@atlasfinewines.com

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