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Lucien Le Moine Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots 2015
RedFrance2015
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2020-10-18 · Published 2026-09-30 · Updated 2026-09-30
At a glance
In one line
4.5/5 — higher than Vivino's 4.4 average · world avg price US$797 · A small négociant in Beaune founded by a man who learned wine in a monastery.
Wine-Searcher aggregate of 4 critic reviews: 93. Vivino lists no critic score for this vintage.
Market note: World average US$797 / 750ml (Wine-Searcher, ex-tax, Sep 2026). There are only two sellers: Hong Kong at US$258.22 (tax incl.) and one at US$1,376.63. The average appears heavily skewed by this tiny sample. From the same house, Échezeaux Grand Cru is US$437 (93), Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru US$994 (94), and Bourgogne Rouge US$74 (90).
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“본로마네의 clove 아로마가 요즘 굉장히 좋다. 네고시앙인 루시앙 르 므앙 이지만 고평가 받는다하여 시음. 스트럭쳐 아주 탄탄하고 타닌이 부드럽지만 굉장히 건강한 느낌이다. 몇 년 뒤에 먹음 더 좋을듯”
Show original
“cherry strawberry leather clove 본로마네의 clove 아로마가 요즘 굉장히 좋다. 네고시앙인 루시앙 르 므앙 이지만 고평가 받는다하여 시음. 스트럭쳐 아주 탄탄하고 타닌이 부드럽지만 굉장히 건강한 느낌이다. 몇년뒤에 먹음 더 좋을듯”
The story of the second bottle on the table that night I've saved for the next page.
Wednesday. As Master Seo poured me a glass of red, he set one condition. When I finished, smell the empty glass once more. Sometimes the empty glass says more than the wine, he said.
Cherry and strawberry, leather beneath. The acidity was straight and the body firm. The astringency was soft, but it was full inside. I drank it slowly to the end and put my nose into the empty glass. Where the fruit had gone, one warm, prickling spice remained. The moment I smelled it, a laugh came out first. A chilly October Sunday night opened.
Twenty-two, the evening of the third Sunday in October. It had turned cold all of a sudden, and the kitchen window was shut. Dad stood two cloth-wrapped bottles on the table. He poured from one first, and when I had emptied my glass, he took it and held it to his own nose. Then he handed it back. Empty glasses have a scent too, he said. I put my nose in; something sharp and prickly. I said it smelled like the dentist's. Dad laughed out loud, opened his notebook and wrote something in English. On the table there was still one more bottle, unopened. I don't know the name of the bottle.
The notebook has two lines for that date. This bottle's begins like this: the 'clove' aroma of Vosne-Romanée is really good lately. Clove. The dentist's smell. He tried it because, although it's a négociant, it's highly regarded. The structure is very firm; the tannins are soft yet it feels very healthy. It'll probably be better in a few years. Four and a half stars. The bottle was Lucien Le Moine Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots 2015. I stuck on the wine-name Post-it. Probably my dentist's smell became one English word in Dad's notebook.
Master Seo told Minjae to smell the empty glass too. Minjae held his nose to it for a long while, then said quietly: the dentist's. I laughed instead of answering.
After closing, I wrote the bottle's name on page thirty-six of the new notebook. In the scent column: 'cherry, leather, and clove in the empty glass.' What I learned today: there's still work left after the glass is empty. The story of the second bottle on the table that night I've saved for the next page.
What this wine is
'Le Moine' is French for the monk. Mounir Saouma, the Lebanese founder, is said to have learned winemaking tending a monastery's vineyards before he came to Burgundy. Wine with Seth, a wine wiki, places him in a Trappist monastery in the Middle East in the late 1980s; the French merchant Vins et Millésimes writes of seven years at a Cistercian monastery near Jerusalem. The details differ, but both agree that the 'monk' in the name comes from those years. As for 'Lucien', one account says it is the French form of Mounir ('light' in Arabic), another that it was a nickname the monks gave him.
In 1999 Mounir and Rotem started Lucien Le Moine in a small cellar in Beaune. It is a négociant with no vineyards. Instead of buying grapes, it picks only the best barrels of wine that growers have already fermented, then raises them. There are no contracts with growers; the only condition is quality (Hedonism). The wine goes into oak barrels five to ten years old and rests on its settled lees for 16–24 months without racking, then is bottled without fining or filtration (Wine with Seth). Around 100 barrels a year — sometimes more than sixty different wines.
Les Suchots is a premier cru of Vosne-Romanée, known for bordering some of the village's famous grands crus.
What the world says
The four critic reviews gathered on Wine-Searcher aggregate to 93. Vivino lists no critic score for this vintage.
On Vivino the 2015 averages 4.4 from 50 ratings: 10 fives, 37 fours, 2 threes and one 1 — bunched in the fours. The label as a whole averages 4.3 from 656. Suggested drinking window: 2018–2028.
"It doesn't yet feel in its drinking window, with a closed nose and tight palate." — Vivino review, Dec 2022, 4.4 stars
Structure shows high acidity at 4.1, intensity 3.3 and tannin 3.0. Red fruit leads the keywords (cherry 17, strawberry 11), followed by leather, earth and mushroom. The producer's description speaks of vibrant red berries, candied orange peel and a long, almost almond-tinged finish.
Wine-Searcher shows a world average of US$797 / 750ml (ex-tax, Sep 2026), but with only two sellers listed, the figure is hard to trust. Hong Kong retail is US$258.22 (tax incl.).
How I drank it
October 18, 2020, 4.5 stars. That day I drank this bottle side by side with a California wine, Starmont Pinot Noir 2014, which got three stars.
My note began: the clove aroma of Vosne-Romanée is really good lately. That came after Michel Gros's Vosne-Romanée 2017 a month earlier on September 16 (4 stars) and Jacques Cacheux's Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru La Croix Rameau 2016 three days earlier on October 15 (4.5). Lucien Le Moine is a négociant, but I'd heard it was highly rated, so I tried it. The structure was very firm; the tannins were soft yet it felt very healthy. I wrote that it would probably be better in a few years.
The community's 4.4 and my 4.5 are almost the same. The review saying 'still closed' and my 'better in a few years' tell the same story. The prejudice against négociants disappeared in the glass.
Vivino community data
2015 vintage rating distribution (50 ratings, average 4.4)
| 5★ | 10 (20%) | |
| 4★ | 37 (74%) | |
| 3★ | 2 (4%) | |
| 2★ | 0 (0%) | |
| 1★ | 1 (2%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Red fruit | 48 | cherry 17 · strawberry 11 · raspberry 8 · red fruit 5 · red cherry 3 |
| Earth & leather | 31 | leather 9 · earthy 6 · mushroom 6 · smoke 2 · truffle 2 |
| Oak | 30 | oak 14 · chocolate 4 · tobacco 3 · baking spice 1 · caramel 1 |
| Black fruit | 11 | dark fruit 5 · black fruit 2 · black plum 2 · blueberry 1 · cassis 1 |
| Floral | 9 | violet 4 · rose petal 3 · perfume 1 · potpourri 1 |
Structure: Acidity 4.1/5 · Intensity 3.3/5 · Tannin 3.0/5 · Sweetness 1.6/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 656 ratings, average 4.3)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 4.2 | 38 |
| 2008 | 4.3 | 32 |
| 2009 | 4.2 | 35 |
| 2010 | 4.3 | 30 |
| 2011 | 4.2 | 52 |
| 2013 | 4.4 | 82 |
| 2014 | 4.4 | 71 |
| 2015 | 4.4 | 50 |
| 2016 | 4.5 | 42 |
| 2017 | 4.2 | 30 |
Other wines Father scored 4.5 →
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BurgundyMichel Noëllat Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots 2014
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Lucien Le Moine Les Suchots?
A Pinot Noir from Les Suchots, a Vosne-Romanée premier cru, selected by the Beaune négociant Lucien Le Moine and aged long on its lees. The 2015 averages 4.4 on Vivino (50 ratings) with a Wine-Searcher critic aggregate of 93.
How much does it cost?
Wine-Searcher shows a world average of US$797 per 750ml (ex-tax, Sep 2026), but only two sellers are listed. Hong Kong retail is US$258.22 (tax incl.).
What food goes with it?
The Vivino community suggests beef, veal, poultry and game such as venison. With high acidity and firm structure, many reviews say it is still young.
Is négociant wine inferior to domaine wine?
Not necessarily. A négociant buys grapes or wine rather than owning vineyards, and houses like Lucien Le Moine that pick only the best barrels and raise them long are highly regarded. This bottle's Wine-Searcher critic aggregate is 93.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Wine with Seth — Maison Lucien Le Moine
- Hedonism — Lucien Le Moine
- Vins et Millésimes — Lucien Le Moine
- Wine-Searcher — 2015 Lucien Le Moine Les Suchots
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Tasted the same dayStarmont Carneros Pinot Noir 2014
United States · Napa★★★☆☆Same producerLucien Le Moine Meursault-Charmes Premier Cru 2018
France · Burgundy★★★★☆Same producerLucien Le Moine Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru Les Hauts Doix 2016
France · Burgundy★★★★★Similar styleDomaine de la Pinte Trousseau Arbois 2018
France★★★★½Similar styleChâteau La Nerthe Cuvée des Cadettes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1996
France · Rhône★★★★★Same grape