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Three bottles only shipped! Following the 2008 vintage, Louis-Benjamin pulled up the vines in this 0.2 hectares and left the land fallow for several years before replanting in 2011. I believe this is Louis-Benjamin’s second or third release, and it’s our first allocation since the 2006! The clos is a walled vineyard located on the top of St. Andelain on the village’s outskirts. The vineyard takes its name from a large crucifix at its edge. Dagueneau bought this site in the ’90s, and it was expected to become one of his finest vineyards. Here was, after all, what appeared to be an ideal location and ungrafted vines planted at a density of 14,000 per hectare. The potential was often seen in cooler vintages when Didier was able to produce powerful, structured wines of great minerality.
However, how the vineyard was planted led to significant issues, especially in the warmer seasons. In such years, the walls trapped the heat and humidity, disease ran rampant, and the problem was magnified by the vine density. On several occasions, the grapes were ruined by rot before they could ripen properly. So, 2008 was the last vintage made before the vines were replanted with a lower density (10,000 vines per hectare) and in a north-south direction. We have received only three bottles, so you won’t be surprised to hear that we have not tasted it! I guess that wouldn’t make much difference. For what it is worth, France’s leading wine guide has given the wine 96/100. It was also one of the few wines released by the domaine from 2021. The unique microclimate created by the walls protected the vines from the worst of the frost.