Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Les Faconnières

Virgile Lignier is the fourth generation to preside over this venerable 10 hectare estate, joining his father in 1998 and then taking the reins in 2000.  The estate is located in Morey-St-Denis in Burgundy’s Côte-d’Or, where his focus is almost solely on the cultivation of Pinot Noir in the Côte-de-Nuits. 

The Lignier-Michelot estate is farmed organically and biodynamically, with all work in the vineyards governed by the lunar cycle.  Virgile adheres to Henry Jayer’s counsel to focus on nurturing and harvesting the finest fruit possible, which yields the best possible wine. 

Virgile uses strictly the best fruit and then employs a short, 5-day cool maceration, followed by fermentation over indigenous yeasts, sometimes using whole cluster fermentation. The resulting wines show intensity, structure, and flavor delineation at fair prices, given the pedigree of the wines and the out-of-control prices of some burgundy estates.