Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru 2017

Decanter, 95 Points

Produced from what is nearly a monopole grand cru - Domaine Taupenot-Merme owns 0.004ha - Clos des Lambrays is always marked by its 90% whole bunches, but the style is very well done in 2017 under new cellarmaster, Boris Champy. With 50% new wood framing the palate, this is subtle, nuanced and focussed, with polished tannins and bright acidity.  Drinking Window 2025 - 2035

Vinous, 92-94+

The 2017 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru was picked September 3–11 and includes 90% whole bunches in this vintage, matured in 50% new oak. Two tanks were chaptalized and the alcohol is around 13.5°. This has a classic Clos des Lambrays bouquet, quite understated at first, precise but tightly coiled. There is fine purity here. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit laced with tobacco and graphite and a fine line of acidity. Not the most persistent Clos des Lambrays that has ever been made, but perhaps one of the most elegant and poised.
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (January 2019)

Wine Advocate, 92-95+

The 2017 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru unfurls in the glass with complex aromas of plums, cassis, dark chocolate, warm spices, licorice and rich soil tones, delicately framed by new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and satiny, with a fleshy core of fruit, succulent acids and powdery tannins. My intuition is that this will turn out to be both a little more concentrated and a little more structurally giving than the 2016 rendition.
William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (January 2019)

Jancis Robinson, 18/20

60 m difference in height between the top and the bottom of the Clos. 50% new and 50% second-use barrel. 90% whole bunch (some years 100%). Will be racked to tank at the end of December. Once in cuve it is stable so there is no hurry to bottle. Must have at least a month in tank to stabilise so they will bottle February –April. Bottling best in March or October – never too cold or hot. No filtration. They bottle with descending moon when the wine is more still.

Beautifully, darkly aromatic with plenty of peppery spice. Woody rather than oaky. There’s freshness from the tannins as well as from the acidity and the texture is so silky on the mid palate yet with power on the finish. Refined, flowing, dry and long. Handsome beauty and so easy to taste even with the underlying intensity and power. There’s just a very slight hint of stems but not OTT. Dark elegance.
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com, (January 2019)