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The clay soils of this premier cru come into their own in a hot year like 2017, producing a wine that’s fine, plush and aromatic. With 20% stems and 25% new wood adding well-judged layers of complexity, this finishes with freshness and savoury tannins. Drinking Window 2023 - 2027.Decanter | 94 DECThe supplest, most open-knit of Lignier’s premiers crus from Morey, the 2017 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru La Riotte bursts with aromas of plummy fruit, red currants, subtle spices and rose hip. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, supple and expansive, with a layered mid-palate, fine but chalky tannins and a saline finish. This will win friends in its youth.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 90-93 RP(Morey St. Denis “la Riotte”- Domaine Hubert Lignier Père et Fils) The 2017 la Riotte from Laurent Lignier is an excellent wine in the making, offering up a very precise bouquet of cherries, dark soil tones, woodsmoke, gamebird, espresso and cedar. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very transparent, with a good core, lovely focus and grip, fine-grained tannins and a long, tangy and complex finish. The personality of la Riotte is always a combination of bright red fruit and dark soil tones and the 2017 from Domaine Lignier is a perfect example of this beautiful mosaic of fruit and soil. This was made with twenty percent whole clusters in this vintage. (Drink between 2022-2060).John Gilman | 92 JGThe 2017 Morey-Saint-Denis La Riotte is aged in one-third new oak and includes 20% whole bunches. It has an expressive bouquet with touches of mint that infuse the vibrant red fruit. The dense, fresh palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip on the entry and hints of sour cherry toward the edgy finish. Good potential here.Vinous Media | 90-92 VM(Domaine Hubert Lignier Père et Fils Morey St. Denis "La Riotte" 1er Cru Red) Soft wood surrounds aromas of red and dark currant, newly turned earth and plenty of attractive floral elements. The nicely rich and generously proportioned medium weight flavors possess a sleek texture along with good precision that contrasts somewhat with the firm, dusty and slightly short and ever-so-mildly dry finale. Note that my projected range implicitly assumes that the dryness will dissipate eventually. (Drink starting 2025).Burghound | 88-90 BH

The 2017 Pouilly Fumé Prédilection is from several terraces on Muschelkalk soils and located closer to the Loire, so they benefit from cool afternoon breezes and nights. The wine opens pure and crunchy on the nose when young, with stony aromas intermixed with notes of white fruit but gets more and more floral with bottle age. The palate is powerful, dense and complex, showing serious substance, tannins and length but also elegance and terroir expression. The finish is lush but also pure and salty and structured by very fine tannins. It’s a crystalline, refined and elegant style with a very long finish. Tasted in February 2021.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThis wine takes its minerality from the chalk soil in which the vines grow. It has considerable texture as well as perfumed richness and dense white fruits accented by spice. The wine is ready to drink.Wine Enthusiast | 91 WEVery pure and smoky, with a peach, apricot and elderflower fragrance and a fabulously expressive mineral acid undercurrent.Decanter | 90 DEC

The 2017 Beausejour Duffau is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. It leaps with notes of blackberry pie and plum preserves, followed by hints of dried herbs, tree bark, and black truffles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers a firm structure of grainy tannins and plenty of freshness to support the muscular black fruits, finishing long and minerally.The Wine Independent | 97 TWIThe 2017 Beauséjour Héritiers Duffau-Lagarrosse is powerful and backward, with huge tannins wrapped around a core of black cherry, smoke, charcoal, licorice, blackberry jam and graphite. Exotic and rich in the glass, the 2017 needs time to soften, but it is immensely promising, not to mention utterly captivating. Tasted three times.Vinous Media | 96 VMThe star of the show from Nicolas Thienpont, the 2017 Chateau Beausejour (Duffau-Lagarrosse) checks in as a mix of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc that spent 16-18 months in 60% new French oak. It offers a wonderful bouquet of creme de cassis and black raspberry fruits intermixed with plenty of minerality, spice, chocolate, and leafy herb nuances. With medium to full body, a ripe, concentrated, yet elegant mouthfeel, and a stacked mid-palate, it needs 4-5 years to develop additional complexity but is a brilliant, brilliant 2017 that will have 25-30 years of longevity.Jeb Dunnuck | 96+ JDThis has a very attractive, ripe black-fruit nose with toasted spices, violets and dark-stone notes. Iodine and cedar, too. The palate is powerful and has quite intense flavors of blackberries and blueberries with a super rich and ripe frame of tannin that carries long and expands the finish in impressive style. Very long. Try from 2025.James Suckling | 96 JSDark currant and blackberry compote notes give this a juicy, engaging feel, while dried anise, apple wood and bramble details fill in the background. Shows chewy grip, but maintains freshness and energy, revealing an encore of fruit and licorice snap on the finish. Be patient with this one. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2038. 1,500 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThis is one of the best examples of this wine that I have tasted, reaching the same heights as some of the biggest names in this vintage, and barely a step down from 2016 - great stuff from these guys this year. It’s firm, bright, intense and deep, with salinity, grip and a lovely seam of freshness. It has a really excellent, juicy character and good persistency, with notes of liquorice and dark chocolate.Decanter | 95 DECThis is a smoky, structured wine that also has plenty of ripe black fruits. It is richly constructed: dense with enough solid tannins and a rich background to give the wine longevity. Drink from 2025. Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEDeep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Beauséjour (Duffau Lagarrosse) is slightly closed, revealing glimpses at bright, cheery black cherries, black berries and wild blueberries with very serious preserved plums, licorice and mocha in the background and a waft of fragrant soil. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm frame of ripe tannins and seamless freshness supporting the subdued, earthy layers, finishing long and minerally. It should be wonderfully long-lived but will need time to enjoy!Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RP

Crushed raspberries, flowers and fresh mushrooms. Full-bodied, very refined and creamy with intensity but no aggression. The length is so enticing and pretty. You can drink it now, but better in 2022.James Suckling | 95 JSThe richness of this fine wine is balanced by delicious freshness and acidity. It has firm tannins, of course, while also having a lift of black currant fruitiness. The tannic core promises great aging; drink from 2025. Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2017 Chapelle d’Ausone is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. A wine of real power, depth and substance, the Chappelle impresses for its fruit concentration and structure. Deep red cherry and plum, fruit, dried flowers, mint, blood orange and sage open up in the glass, with layers of bright, saline-infused aromatics from the 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. In 2017, the Chapelle is truly stellar. I loved it.Vinous Media | 93 VMThe second wine here is always terrific as well. The 2017 Chapelle D’Ausone is a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly from the younger vines of the estate. It has a terrific core of darker fruits as well as complex forest floor, cedar, and violet-tinged aromatics. These all carry to a medium to full-bodied, rounded, elegant, even pretty 2017 that has light tannins and the balance to evolve for 15-20 years.Jeb Dunnuck | 93 JDBlended of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Chapelle d’Ausone sports a deep garnet-purple color. It needs a little coaxing to reveal provocative notes of plum preserves, Black Forest cake and blueberry compote plus suggestions of roses, cloves, pencil shavings and cherry pie. Medium-bodied, the palate is wonderfully zippy and elegantly fruited with a tantalizing frame of satiny tannins and a long, fragrant finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThis estate has managed to stay true to their signature, producing a gorgeous, round wine with dancing floral aromatics that accompany the autumnal fruit and wonderful lick of wet stone. The tight tannins emphasise the austere finish, but there’s great persistency. 100% new oak. Harvested 23 September to 2 October, yielding 35hl/ha.Decanter | 90 DEC