This is the first wine to have shown any appreciable reduction though the sappy, dense and powerful flavors are actually quite fresh and energetic as they display both power and precision on the muscled, focused and driving finish. This is completely different from the Reignots and does not have the same delicacy or refinement though it does have more obvious power. A qualitative choice but the reader should note that these are two very different wines. Tasted: Jan 01, 2009 Score: 91-93 Drink: 2015+ Issue 33 Allen Meadows; Burghound

Louis-Michel Liger-Belair told me that 2007 is a vintage of "extreme precociousness. Unfortunately, after May 15th we had one good day followed by a bad one and as a result, rot pressure was substantial. It was interesting to see that the vineyards that I took over in 2006 had more problems handling the rot than those that are mine and thus used to my viticultural approach. Exactly why I am not sure but I believe that mine are used to fending more for themselves. With the cool weather you absolutely had to have relatively low yields to obtain good phenolic ripeness. We began picking on September 1st and picked quickly, finishing on the 5th. We had excellent sugars at between 12.5 and 13.5% though yields were fully 30% less than a normal crop. I vinified the '07s about like I normally do. As to the wines, it's a good vintage to have after the more substantial vintages of 2005 and 2006 as the wines are generous, approachable and should drink well early." As the scores and comments suggest, the in-bottle '06s have turned out very well and while most of the wines in the range were not there in 2005, those that are were not far off the performance achieved in that great vintage, a high compliment to the quality of the Liger-Belair '06s.