Winemaker Notes
Intense aromas of red fruit and spices entwined with oaky hints. This wine is a perfect marriage of the elegance of its terroir and the power of its Grand Cru standing. Very good ageing potential. Pair with roasts or meat dishes in sauce, medium-flavored cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: Échézeaux a magically Burgundy appellation. It's a place that offers one of the most complex and delicate Pinot Noirs in the world. The 2017 vintage from Bouchard Père & Fils is a masterful wine. TASTING NOTES: This wine shows superb elegance and rocks from start to its long finish. Its aromas and flavors of ripe red and black fruits take over the palate and pilots the wine lovers' enjoyment. Pair it with rosemary-accented grilled lamb chops. (Tasted: March 14, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine & Spirits
An exceptional Echézeaux, this has the kind of energy and brilliance that sets true grand cru wine apart. Frédéric Weber works with fruit from 40-year-old vines at a single parcel, just under one acre, fermenting it with ambient yeasts, a portion in tronconic wooden vats, the rest in stainless steel. He included 20 percent whole clusters in 2017, and aged this vintage 14 months in oak barrels (30 percent new). The wine’s deep well of cherry-scented fruit has an inherent stamina—or is it just the stamina it inspires in the drinker to keep going back for another sip from that well? Tasting coordinator Corey Warren described it as having “a coherent progression of flavor complexities,” while another panelist described its “beautiful bones.”
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Wine Spectator
Aromatic, boasting lilac, rose, sandalwood and wild berry notes. Silky in texture and harmonious, with cherry, berry, mineral and spice flavors beautifully integrated with the firm structure. The finish is long and resonant. Best from 2022 through 2040.
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James Suckling
The stunning floral depth to the nose is very attractive here with plenty of roses and violets, as well as ripe red cherries. Very plush, long and layered tannin weave with an expressive, fleshy and round center. There’s softness, as well as a bit of cut from the 50 per cent whole-cluster ferment. Try from 2022.
Barrel Sample: 93-94
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.