Lucien Le Moine
About Lucien Le Moine
Founded in 1999 by Mounir and Rotem Saouma, Lucien Le Moine is an expression of the Burgundian drive to lovingly craft only the very best wines from the very best terroirs, regardless of any external factors. These are wines of truly relentless excellence.
The concerted aim of this house is to produce no more than 100 barrels of 1er and Grand Cru wine each vintage, varying from year to year as Mounir samples each vineyard before deciding which meet his lofty standards. Often only securing a single barrel per vineyard, their 100 barrel release in 2017, for example, covered 68 different wines.
The Winemaking
Lucien Le Moine has no running contracts with growers (although they will often source grapes repeatedly from the best), and they have no prerequisites with regards to how the vines were managed. Fascinatingly, this producer is not a winemaker, as such, as they purchase wines after fermentation. Instead, the art for which Mounir and Rotem Saouma have become so revered is the élevage - the process of ageing, filtration, racking etc. in their facility in Beaune.
Given their focus on post-fermentation processes, they work very closely with one specific barrel supplier, who sources the very finest wood from the great forests of France and wider Europe. Such is their care and determination, that each individual barrel is composed and toasted slightly differently to match and season each specific wine - attention to detail and artisanal craft reaches its apogee at Lucien Le Moine.
Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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Burgundy | 1 | 94-97 (VN) | HK$27,245.00 | |||||
Vinous (94-97)Good medium ruby. High-pitched violet perfume lifts the aroma of ripe black cherry. Wonderfully suave, intense and refined, with a pungently fresh quality that reminded me of cut grass. This highly concentrated wine has perfectly integrated acidity, as well as a stronger limestone character than usual. In a rather masculine style but also seamless and suave. Finishes with outstanding length and class, the tannins totally buffered by fruit and minerals. Mounir Saouma noted that this wine has been great since the beginning. |
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Burgundy | 2 | 90-93 (BH) | HK$21,795.00 | |||||
Burghound (90-93)Reduction knocks down the underlying fruit though wisps of spice escape the funk. More positively are the racy and highly energetic middle weight flavors that brim with minerality on the markedly firm but balanced and persistent finish that will need to add depth to reach the upper end of my projected range. |
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Burgundy | 1 | 93-95 (BH) | HK$25,115.00 | |||||
Burghound (93-95)This too is firmly reduced. There is almost painful intensity to the beautifully delineated and mineral-driven broad-shouldered flavors that possess a highly refined textured before culminating in an almost crisp, moderately austere and wonderfully persistent finale that is quite firmly structured. This is a bit atypical but no less attractive for it and a Bèze that should amply reward a decade plus of cellaring. Lovely. |