Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru (Domaine du Clos Frantin) has a more pixelated bouquet than the Echézeaux -- very nicely focused with more tangible mineralité developing in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, impressive depth and focus, quite tensile with a hint of spice developing on the harmonious finish that exerts a gentle grip. This is a very fine Grands Echézeaux from Bichot.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 -
Wine Enthusiast
This massive wine is powered by dark, concentrated and smoky tannins that are masking the fruit. Dry and dense, it will take many years for the black fruits behind the facade to develop. Drink this intense wine from 2025.
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Decanter
Perfumed nose of black fruit and some spice with a silky texture and savoury finish.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Claiming the two famous Grand Crus, Echezeaux and Grands Echezeaux, the identity of this village, Flagey-Echezeaux, rides predominantly on the glory of those two crus. All of the village or Premier Cru status vineyards in Flagey-Echezeaux market themselves under the name of their neighbor, Vosne-Romanée.
Echezeaux Pinot noir tends be light, bright and full of finesse, whereas those of Grands Echezeaux typically have more heft and complexity.