The 2016 Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas, which was 100% destemmed, sported some reduction on the nose that Thibaut wants to keep in barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy red fruit, fine acidity and a fresh, well-structured, minerally finish that punches above its village cru status.

The 2015 Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas suffered a little more o?dium during the growing season and so Thibault used a little more SO2, ergo the wine tends to be more reduced. It is matured in 100% new oak, the first time that this has been done. That new oak does translate across onto the aromatics, which coupled with the reduction, made it difficult to read the terroir expression. The palate is sweet and candied on the entry with orange zest and tangerine infusing the red berry fruit, here the oak more assimilated than on the nose. Hopefully the aromatics will absorb the new oak, because the palate suggests good potential.

The 2014 Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas has a slightly smudged red cherry, crushed strawberry and damp earth scented bouquet, floral aromas developing nicely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, fine acidity, well balanced with a gentle grip on the persistent finish. I can see this ageing nicely and perhaps surpassing its showing from barrel. Tasted November 2016.

The 2013 Vosne-Romanée Aux Reas is 100% destemmed. It has a precise, mineral-driven bouquet with a slight reduction that does not disguise an attractive touch of iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannins, bright red cherry fruit with a citric finish that feels more harmonious than some of Thibault’s “l(fā)esser” crus. Very fine.

The 2012 Vosne-Romanee Aux Reas comes from a 0.55-hectare parcel rich in limestone that is sometimes exposed on the surface. The vines were planted in 1956. The nose displays fine density, the oak a little more conspicuous compared to other cuvees though it is in synch with the fruit. The palate is silky smooth with a sorbet-like freshness and vitality. It is not a complex Vosne village cru, but very well-balanced with a precise, mineral-laced finish. This should offer pleasurable early drinking pleasure. Though I have met Thibault Liger-Belair several times in the melee of the London Burgundy tastings, this was actually the first time that I had visited his cellars, stationed on the busy RN74 artery as it swerves through the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges. He actually started on the communication side of the wine business, before relocating from Paris and establishing the domaine in 2001. In case you were wondering (as I was) he is distantly related to Louis-Michel Liger-Belair in Vosne: their great-grandfathers were brothers. The barrel cellars lie below the grand maison that on first appearances is spacious for a Burgundy domaine. That might be because of the depletion of yields in recent vintages, Thibault’s 2012 averaging only 16 hectoliters per hectare on average. Still, this is a vigneron that has expanded his holdings in recent years, most recently into Moulin-a-Vent in Beaujolais, whose notes I have included here for no lesser reason than they are too bloody good to just sit on. Thibault told me that he stumbled across a Beaujolais grower who was blissfully unaware of the currency of old vine material. “I was shocked when I asked him how old the vines were,” he recalled with glee. “He did not know their age exactly. But he was 80 years old, and he said that when he was a boy, they were referred to as ‘vieilles vignes’!” I have always found Thibault an easygoing person, candid with his views, one of the most garrulous winemakers in the region. Gregory Gouges forewarned that if I videoed Thibault, I would be unable to make him stop talking, which my interviewee admitted was true before commencing his oration. But that is no bad thing when you are a young, ambitious winemaker galvanized by what you are doing and the tenets you bring to your wines that are invariably top drawer. Burgundy and Nuits-Saint-Georges in particular, need people like Thibault. Overall, these were astutely crafted wines that expressed their terroir with panache. Sure, there is a couple that seemed a little “iffy”, for example the “crazy” Charmes-Chambertin, but otherwise the passion that Thibault shows as a winemaker is translated into the passion shown by his wines. N.B. Subscribers can watch a video I took of Thibault discussing the vintage, filmed in his cellars in Nuits-Saint-Georges. I begin with Thibault’s quartet of impressive Beaujolais wines. Having experienced a 1934 Fleurie, he is convinced that there is immense untapped potential in this region (to which I agree.) Moving to the Cote d’Or, Thibault showed me through his barrel samples from the negoce side of the business (labelled “Thibault Liger-Belair Successeurs”) and from his own vineyards (labelled “Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair”.) Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802 and through Berry Brothers & Rudd in UK.