Opinions on Lucien le Moine?

In the never-ending quest for (relative) value in Burgundy, I’m curious to hear people’s opinions on Le Moine’s red wines. I see mostly positive notes on the site, but not a lot of info on the house style or where his strengths lie re specific villages or wines. Anyone have experiences they can share?

This is a great question Max. Whenever I’ve experienced a wine from le Moine they haven’t been on the elegant side of the spectrum - most have been relatively young though so who knows with some more age. Some semi-recent winners from le Moine IMHO from bottles I’ve tasted have been the '07 Gaudichot and other recent bottlings of their Malconsorts, Combes aux Moines, and Amoureuses. I need to sample more over time.

I think his red wines are very good . As with more young and ambitious wine makers , he started out making deep red , extracted big wines ( like Perrot Minot , for example ) . But his style changed around the 2007 vintage . The wines are now more elegant and are a reflection of the terroir .
Our wine club does a lot of blind tastings are Le Moine RED wines usually do extremely well . His Amoureuses and Echezeaux are top wines . He also makes a couple of premier cru’s that will not break the bank and are delicious , such as his Gevrey Cazetiers and Chambolle les Haut Doix .
His style goes for wines with lot’s of stuffing , a result of very long elevages .
( his white wines are an entirely different story , a style a lot of people do not appreciate ) .

Not sure if LeMoine hits that value camp, but I’m in a bad market. Limited experience, but he has really great access to some killer vineyards. I think it’s fair to say the whites come off with a more ‘elegant’ style generally speaking than his reds at least at this young stage in the operation. I have some reds for the long haul and heard that his '14 whites were out of the park great.

before buying le Moine whites, read the oxidized Burg wiki and Don’s Burg tasting notes.

Le Moine is not cheap …

However what I have tasted so far (only reds) was excellent, concentrated, also quite elegant and also of good typicity - but certainly modern in style with a good dose of oak … and usually (too) young, but with fine potential …
I´ve still got to see how the wines age (I haven´ t a great many, but some), but I guess they will turn out mostly fine …
I still buy bottles now and then when I come across …

Love the guy and his wines. One of the great barrel tasting experiences in Burgundy. I haven’t tasted many of the wines since bottling,but own some and look forward to drinking them. Had a fabulous 2012 Meursault Perrieres in Rome in December. One of the best white burgs bought from a restaurant list in a long time.

his 03 Bourgogne was stunning long ago.

The best White Burgundy he makes is his Clos Saouma ‘Magis’ Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc !

Thanks for the info, guys. Jonathan, Gerhard, and Herwig - your contrasting observations about the elegance (or lack thereof) of Le Moine’s wines is exactly what I’m trying to unravel. While their wines aren’t cheap, they seem to be less expensive than other domaines for the same vineyard (e.g. VR Petits Monts, CM les Haut Doix, and Amoureuses). Sounds like the jury is still out on this one.

The only reason the jury is still out is because this brand doesn’t have a super long track record.

I had a 2007 Clos St. Denis earlier this year, and it was stunning.

I also love Le Moine. The young whites are exceptional but would drink early due to premox. The reds are opulent and concentrated yet remain pure and clean. Like Leroy, the producer style is very strong.

Had a great visit here in Chicago with Mounir Saouma (owner/winemaker) in March. We tasted a large range of his wines both at a great local wine retailer (Chevalier) and then at a wonderful long dinner. He makes stunning wines in my opinion that are vastly under rated in the Burg community, although not cheap.

Interestingly, he is an outsider (ex-Monk from Lebanon) who buys from only PC and GC vineyards and produces no more than three barrels of each wine. His style is a touch richer than average, yet the terrior shines through in spades and the wines are simply delicious, both whites and reds, especially the GCs. I think the comparison to Leroy in style is not terribly far off, although missing her deft touch on aromatics and overall elegance. You can see our notes from the dinner here…https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=34540&earchId=8E1A43F1%23selected%253DW37728_5_Kdb7e23a0c9c8da201a1691e518a7bc85

Le Moine is a micro-negociant. Good information about the operations is on the Berry Bros & Rudd website: Explore the Wine range of Lucien Le Moine - Berry Bros. & Rudd. A few months ago I attended a Paulee-style dinner organized by the Missouri distributor of Le Moine. Most, but not all, of the wines were from Le Moine, and I tasted probably two dozen Le Moine wines from a range of vintages (2002-2013) and various premier cru and grand cru vineyards. I was very impressed with the quality of the wines, but there was a fairly prominent oak signature consistent through the wines I tried. I think these are definitely wines that need some time for the oak to integrate. (The BBR website says 100 percent new oak is used.) BTW, a '98 Truchot Sentiers stole the show that night!

I recently broke into a case of the '02 Bourgogne which also is very nice. Big Bold and on the ripe side, but balanced and very enjoyable.
Biggest punt in any Bourgogne I’ve had… bigger than PYCM even!

Good info here on what seems to be an often misunderstood producer.

I visited Lucien Le Moine a few weeks ago and his 2015 barrel samples were stellar. There is a sense that his lively personality shows up in his wines. The 2015 Clos de Beze bottling is a must buy when available.

JH

Great summary in the link from Jasper. I’ve not had too many of their wines but have generally found them on the more modern side - Kevin’s use of the word “opulent” is apt. They have a great range of vineyards so are a good source of some of the more difficult to find premier crus.

I like the wines, they are very well made.
The genious for the buck is on my book missed, though.
I get them quite frequently, because some of my friends buy and open them.
Not enough soul to be on my list.

So in the end, this thread reflect the split opinions on Le Moine. I might dip my toe in and try one, but since the Saoumas don’t manage the viticulture for the vineyards, I do wonder how representative it can be. David’s report about the Truchot from a not great year outclassing a whole range of Le Moine does give me pause.

Re Le Moine’s oak signature - is it as strong as Serafin’s (which I find extremely off-putting)?