Domaine Virgile Lignier Michelot

Domaine Virgile Lignier Michelot

Domaine Virgile Lignier is the fourth generation of this distinguished family to preside over this elite 10.24 ha. Domaine centered in Morey-St-Denis in Burgundy’s Côte-d’Or.   Virtually the entire production derives from Pinot Noir coming from the Côte-de-Nuits. Virgile joined his father, Maurice, in 1998 and took the reins in 2000.

The estate is farmed organically and all work in the vineyards and cellar is followed in harmony with the lunar cycle.  Virgile adheres to Jayer’s admonition to nurture and harvest the finest fruit possible to enable the wine, in effect, to make itself.  Following a strict triage, Virgile employs a short, 5-day cool maceration followed by fermentation over indigenous yeasts. In the last several vintages, he has practiced whole-cluster vinification, ranging between 30-100% depending on vineyard and vintage. He carefully controls the temperature to assure a gentle extraction and soft tannins. On average, the new wines are aged for about one year on fine lees in French oak barrels, of which only 30% are new (except that the Grands Crus may be 80-100% new).  They are then ranked into tank for a settling of 3-5 months and bottled unfiltered.