Hubert Lignier Charmes Chambertin 2018

95 Points Robert Parker

The 2018 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru is showing very well, unwinding in the glass with a deep bouquet of red berries, cherries and cassis mingled with hints of smoked meats, black truffle and loamy soil. Full-bodied, concentrated and enveloping, its ample core of lively fruit is framed by a muscular chassis of ripe, powdery tannins. Laurent Lignier has once again produced a fine vintage for both his domaine holdings and négociant sources—the latter, amounting to some 3.5 hectares of vines, now clearly distinguished in our reviews. As readers will know, winemaking is pretty classical at this address, with a short cold maceration, two to three weeks' maceration with one pigéage and one rémontage per day, and maturation in barrels, some third of which are new—if possible, without racking—for fully 22 months. Lignier began picking on September 4 and finished eight days later, reporting finished alcohols which, with only a couple of exceptions, are below 14%. The two pieces of news are the Lignier is now certified organic since May 2019, and that he is producing a new cuvée of Clos de la Roche, the story of which is told in the accompanying tasting notes