Domaine Lignier-Michelot

Why we follow Domaine Lignier-Michelot

The estate

A Morey-Saint-Denis family domaine and one of the better-value addresses in the village. Virgile Lignier joined his father Maurice in 1988, began bottling under the family name in 1992, and took full control around 2000. A small négociant arm operates alongside as Maison Virgile Lignier.

The vineyards

Somewhere between ten and twelve hectares spread across around sixty separate parcels in Morey-St-Denis, Gevrey-Chambertin, Fixin, Chambolle-Musigny and Nuits-St-Georges. The grand cru holdings are slight: a quarter hectare of Clos de la Roche from vines planted between 1968 and 1993, and a single barrel of Clos Saint-Denis. Premier cru Les Faconnières, planted in 1948, is the most ageworthy wine in the range. Among the village wines, En la Rue de Vergy sits high on the slope directly above Clos de Tart and bordering Bonnes-Mares, which is remarkable company for a village bottling.

In the glass

No herbicides in the vineyard. In the cellar the fruit is usually fully destemmed, given a short cool maceration of about five days, fermented on native yeasts and vinified over roughly three weeks. New oak runs about twenty per cent for the village wines, thirty for the premier crus and considerably more for the Clos de la Roche. Bottling is unfiltered. Writing in Vinous about the 2017s, Neal Martin observed that "you would be hard-pressed to find a better Morey-Saint-Denis than his Les Faconnières."

With Lamont’s

Offered through the Private Cellar Selection, generally following the September release. Register your interest and we will contact you when the next allocation is confirmed.