"Clos de la Roche" MCMLV Grand Cru AOC 2022 1500ml Magnum
A rare Pinot Noir from vines planted in 1955 in Morey-Saint-Denis — organically produced, cool and clear in style, and in the magnum bottle a true collector’s piece from the Côte de Nuits.
Bottler: Domaine Hubert Lignier, 13, Route Nationale 74, 21220 Morey Saint Denis / France
In the glass
Colour
Deep, luminous ruby red with fine garnet reflections at the rim of the glass.
Nose
Intense and multi-layered: dark cherry, wild raspberry and blackcurrant, accompanied by violet, undergrowth, delicate spice notes and a hint of refined wood spice.
Palate
Dense and concentrated thanks to the tiny berries of the old vines, fine-grained tannins, a cool line of fruit and a long, clear, mineral-driven finish.
Character
A Grand Cru of cool clarity and depth — finely structured, built for length, with great ageing potential that unfolds particularly slowly and elegantly in the magnum.
Pairing
Ideal with game such as saddle of venison or pigeon, with beef fillet in a truffle jus, or with mature hard cheeses like Comté.
Notes
A cuvée from just twenty-seven rows of vines planted in 1955 in the Monts Luisants climat — barely two casks per vintage. Certified organic since 2019, gently vinified in a gravity-flow cellar without pumps, with judicious use of new wood; one of the most sought-after labels in Burgundy.
Tasting note
Character
A Grand Cru of rare genealogical depth: the vines for this cuvée were planted in 1955 by Henri Lignier – MCMLV, the Roman numeral for 1955, refers to this on the label. The old vines are prone to millerandage and bear tiny, often seedless berries of enormous concentration. From them comes a Pinot Noir of cool clarity, finely structured architecture and a long, precisely delineated finish. Barely two barrels per vintage are bottled – this bottle is among the most sought-after in the entire Côte de Nuits. The magnum is the ideal format for the slow, patient maturation of such a wine.
Terroir & Origin
The twenty-seven rows of vines stand in the climat Monts Luisants, at the upper edge of the Grand Cru Clos de la Roche in Morey-Saint-Denis. They are the genetic origin of the estate: from their wood, Henri Lignier propagated the remaining plots vine by vine in the 1960s. Whoever drinks this wine drinks a lineage that began in these rows. The family has been cultivating Pinot Noir here since the 1880s; since 2017 the plot has been bottled separately – a tribute to the grandfather of Laurent Lignier, who today runs the domaine in its fifth generation.
Grape Variety & Vinification
Pinot Noir in its purest Burgundian form. Since 2007 no synthetic treatments have been used in the vineyards; organic certification followed in 2019. In the cellar built in 2008, the wine flows solely by gravity – no pump touches it, from the must through to bottling. Long, cool maceration periods precede fermentation, the proportion of whole bunches has increased, and new wood is deliberately restrained and spread across four cooperages so that no single barrel overwhelms the wine. Thus the vineyard site remains audible – not the winemaking.
Food Pairings
A wine for dishes of depth and nobility: partridge in truffle jus, braised pigeon, duck breast with berry jus or beef fillet with mushrooms. With mature cheese too – such as Époisses or Comté – it reveals its fine-grained tannin structure. In magnum, this is a wine for the long table and large company; those who bring patience will grant it a decade of rest and be rewarded with ever more silken complexity.
