2015 Thibault Liger-Belair Nuits-St.-Georges Les Saint-Georges

Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair is 20-acre estate in Nuits-Saint-Georges. It was created in 2003 by Thibault Liger-Belair, whose family has been in the wine business in Burgundy for several hundred years. Preceding generations ran domaines and negociant businesses. Today Thibault runs Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair and has a self-named negociant company. The domaine has parcels in eight appellations. There are Grand Crus in Clos de Vougeot and Richebourg, and Premier Crus in Vosne Romanee and Nuits-Saints-Georges. Thibault is the cousin of Louis-Michel of Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair. Clive Coates notes that Domaine Thibault Liger-Belair “is a future star.”

Les Saint-Georges is a 18.7-acre Premier Cru vineyard in Nuits-Saints-Georges, in Burgundy’s Cote de Nuits. It is in the southern part of of the appellation. Because there are no Grand Cru vineyards in Nuits-Saints-Georges, the appellation’s considerable reputation rests on its excellent Premier Crus. Burgundy writer Clive Coates calls this vineyard part of the “greatest climat in Nuits-Saint-Georges.” The vineyard is 245 – 260 meters in elevation with an excellent stony, soil that drains well. Coates calls Les Saint-Georges “the best wine of the commune. It is simply the most complete, the most complex, and the most profound.”

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.