Terroir Insight: Comte Liger-Belair, Vosne Clos du Château

Clos du Château is sort of a signature wine for Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair. A very expressive Vosne Village made from a vineyard that used to be a part of the park around Château Vosne-Romanee.

It’s a magnificent village … one of the very best in my view … often offering a forward and charming expression of the Liger-Belair style and qualities. No it’s not La Romanee, Echezeaux, Petits Monts or Reignots … but it’s a true terroir wine nevertheless.

So lets take a closer look at the terroir producing this extraordinary village.

Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, Vosne Romanee Clos du Château – the plots

Clos du Chateau is made from a 0.8304 ha vineyard located close to the center of Vosne-Romanee just across the road – rue des Communes – from the Château Vosne-Romanee – the recidence of  Louis-Michel Liger-Belair .

Photo: Clos du Chateau seen from rue des Communes

The vineyard is surrounded by a stone wall and is therefore a true clos. Below Clos du Château – towards the main road – RN74 – we find another of the fine village terroir – Vosne-Romanee Colombiere – see map below

The history of Clos du Château

The history of Clos du Château is quite simple as it has been under Liger-Belair ownership since 1815. From 1850 til 1970 it was used as a park for the Château with a bridge leading from the terrasse of the Château over rue des Communes to the park on the other side.

Looking at the Cadastre maps from 1827  one can find several changes in the area included in Clos du Château vineyard. The old cadastre map seem to show that a part of the current Clos du Château, was then the upper part of Vosne-Romanee La Colombiere.

Clos du Château today consist of two cadastre plots 105 and 106 – see map below – where the plot furthest away from the Château seem to have been a part of La Colombiere when the first cadastre was made in 1827.

Also some changes have been made in the northern end, where some buildings now occupy some of the area previously included in the vineyard.