Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru 2021

Style Profile at a Glance

Terroir, History & Acclaim

• 93-95 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: A pretty, perfumed and impressively deep wine, the 2021 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru wafts from the glass with aromas of dark plummy fruit mingled with rose petals, bergamot, cinnamon and cloves. Full-bodied, ample and satiny, with a fleshy core of fruit that's framed by powdery tannins and lively acids, it concludes with good persistence.
• 92-95 Points - Allen Meadows (Burghound): An intensely floral also freely reveals aromas of rose petal, violet, lavender, spiced plum and a whiff of newly turned earth. The sleek and precise middleweight flavors also possess a caressing yet quite punchy palate feel while displaying outstanding length on the focused, moderately austere and built-to-age finale. This is also really very good and a wine that should easily repay 12 to 15 years of keeping.
• 95–97 Points - Jasper Morris (Inside Burgundy): I tasted four different cuvées, all of which had been vinified with 100% whole bunches, and then the final blend. La Plante Dessous seemed useful as a blending component but not quite Grand cru on its own. The other three were in a different league: Cerisier is not extra concentrated in colour but a fine red purple. The nose has much more elegance and nobility and shows the whole bunch more. There is unquestionably a cherry taste to the fruit, fresh white pepper, good acidity and fine length. Much more noble. Les 50 Ouvrées (Milieu) offers a little more depth to the vivid purple colour The nose shows more weight too with the fruit slight taking the lead over the vinification. A vast sweet red fruit mouthful here, cherries again but now with a denser raspberry note behind. Complex long aftertaste. Les 50 Ouvrées (Dessus) is bright crimson purple in colour. A vigorous solid nose, less evidence of the whole bunches (100%). Less flamboyant yet with great density. This could make the heart of the cuvée with the cherries from the others to add a top note. Very sensual, undoubtedly grand cru with a long rich red fruit finish elongated by the whole bunch vinification. Limestone tension, slower ripening here. And now for the blend. A lovely even ruby colour across the glass. The bouquet just starts to peep out slowly, 80% whole bunch as Plante Dessus and Milieu were destemmed in 2021. Just a little light pepper seasoning the deep red berry fruit which has a multiplicity of nuances. Overall, the wine has a magical sense of harmony but is the opposite of monolithic, showing waves of flavour and exquisite detail. If this continues to grow in the barrel, as Jacques suspects it will, it could well be a five star wine. Drink from 2028-2038. Drink from 2028-2038. Tasted Nov 2022 by Jasper Morris MW.
• The Clos des Lambrays Terroir: Spanning 8.66 hectares, the domaine owns almost the entirety of this historic Morey-Saint-Denis Grand Cru. Its undulating slopes encompass three distinct geological sectors—from iron-rich red clay and marl to shallow, stony limestone—granting this cuvée extraordinary complexity and structural balance.
• Precision Biodynamic Craft: Under the direction of Jacques Devauges, the estate farms organically and biodynamically. The 2021 was vinified with judicious whole-cluster fermentation and gentle extractions, letting the natural finesse, mineral focus, and floral lift of the site take center stage.