The 2016 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru includes 70% whole-bunch fruit with 30% new oak. It has a very exuberant, typical bouquet for this vineyard that goes out of its way to please: copious black cherries, griottes and crushed violet aromas all demanding attention. The palate is sweet and supple on the entry with saturated tannin counterbalanced by a fine bead of acidity, harmonious and linear at first, then fanning out on the second half with lightly peppered black fruit. There is a very long aftertaste here and you can sense the presence of this wine 45 to 60 seconds after it has departed.
(95-97) points, Neal Martin (December 2017)
(30% new oak, or roughly the same percentage as all of the 2015 crus here): Bright dark red. Very sexy, subtly complex scents of dark raspberry, black cherry, licorice, coffee and mocha, with suggestions of liqueur-like ripeness. Densely packed and thick, with subtle sweetness supported by ripe acidity. Quite juicy and savory in the mouth, then firmly tannic but not dry on the very long, rising back end. The yield here was a normal 42 hectoliters per hectare. This wine struck me as a bit New World in character when I first tasted it from barrel, but today it's clearly communicating its Morey terroir. (Lignier did not open a bottle of his Clos Saint-Denis, as he has just 140 bottles--plus another 140 for the owner of the vineyard.)
92+ points, Vinous (January 2018)
Cask sample. Extraordinary opulence of aroma – floral, ripe black fruit and lovely flinty elements too. Far too young to reveal all its secrets yetawhile.
18++ points, JancisRobinson.com (August 2018)
Diversity is to be expected as each Grand Cru has its own personality. To the eye, this wine is plain ruby, sometimes a bit darker. Veiled in strawberry and violet, the Clos de Tart offers both robustness and charm. Quite tannic when young, it softens with age while gaining in complexity. The Clos des Lambrays is a true aristocrat, fully rounded in youth and with added depth and gravity as the years go by. The Clos Saint-Denis impresses by its finely-tuned nuances – this wine is the Mozart of the Côte de Nuits. The Clos de la Roche is firmer, deeper and more serious, closely akin to Chambertin. Aromas of humus and truffle are often precursors to notes of small red or black fruits. A small part of the Bonnes-Mares appellation lies in this commune, but the greater part is in Chambolle-Musigny.
