Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair is a relatively new domaine, established in 2000 in Vosne-Romanée in the Côte de Nuits in Burgundy.

The Liger-Belair family was already active in Burgundy since 1815, when Louis Liger-Belair, who was a general in Napoleon’s army, bought the Château de Vosne in Vosne-Romanée. His adopted son Louis-Charles (who was the son of his sister) married Ludovie Marey from the well-known winegrowers’ family and the domaine grew considerably.

They owned over 60 Ha of land in some of the most prestigious parts of Burgundy: La Romanée, La Tache, La Grande Rue, Clos Vougeot, Chambertin etcetera. In 1933, due to the complicated Napoleonic inheritance laws, the family Liger-Belair had to sell almost the entire property. All the land that remained in the family was farmed out to local winegrowers and the grapes were sold to négociants.

But in 2000, Louis-Michel Liger-Belair an agricultural engineer and oenologist, re-established the domaine. He began to purchase and rent important vineyards in Vosne-Romanée, Flagey-Echézeaux and Gevrey-Chambertin. Louis-Michel and his family currently own 8.7 Ha, mainly planted with Pinot Noir vines, including the Monopole Grand Cru “La Romanée” (the smallest AOC of France),the Grand Cru “Echézeaux” and various plots of 1e Cru vineyards in Vosne-Romanée (including “Les Petits Monts”, “Les Suchots”, “Aux Reignots”, “Les Chaumes” and the Monopole “Clos du Château”) and 1er Cru Gevrey-Chambertin (“Les Cras” and “Clos des Grandes Vignes”).

Especially “La Romanée” Grand Cru is the flagship of Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair and is frequently one of the most expensive red wines from Burgundy. All the wines are vinified according to the bio-dynamic philosophy and they use new oak barrels at the domaine. The wines from this domaine are very rare due to the small production and are priced accordingly.