CLOS DE LA COMMARAINE MONOPOLE 2018

Parker review

The purchase of the Clos de la Commaraine by Americans Denise Dupré and Mark Nunelly made headlines recently. Long the property of Jaboulet-Vercherre, the fruit of this beautifully situated 3.75-hectare monopole has been sold to Louis Jadot since the 2002 vintage, but now ambitious plans are underfoot. This large, walled vineyard, insulated from outside influences, is ideally suited to organic and biodynamic farming—and will be now be worked accordingly. And Comte Liger-Belair's longtime collaborator, soil scientist and geologist Pedro Parra, has visited to study the clos, which has now been divided into eight sub-plots along geological lines; plots that will be farmed and vinified separately. The 2018 vintage certainly bears Comte Liger-Belair's signatures, with its supple tannins, delicate extraction and framing of toasty new oak, and the wine has turned out very well. The 2018 Pommard 1er Cru Clos de la Commaraine Monopole is the inaugural vintage for this new estate, and 20 barrels were produced, 10 of which were new and the remaining 10 once used. Cropped at 40 hectoliters per hectare and entirely destemmed, the wine has turned out nicely, wafting from the glass with a rich bouquet of wild berries and raspberries mingled with hints of orange rind, woodsmoke and toasty oak. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with succulent acids and melting tannins, concluding with a perfumed and nicely defined finish. 91-93/100.