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 aging potential. Pair with roasts or meat dishes in sauce, medium-flavored cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2018 Echézeaux Grand Cru, from the Combe d’Orveaux lieu-dit, has a tightly wound, slightly static bouquet compared to the Clos de Vougeot. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and good weight in the mouth, and the 50% to 70% whole-cluster fruit lends complexity on the finish. This is a backward Echezeaux that needs several years in bottle. Finely crafted.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aromas of raspberries, red plums, orange rind, peonies and raw cocoa introduce the 2018 Echézeaux Grand Cru, a medium to full-bodied, muscular and structured wine that, like this year's Clos Vougeot, will need some time. And like the Clos Vougeot, this was hard to read in October, so a more definitive assessment will have to wait until the wine is bottled.
Barrel Sample: 90-92
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.