Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
Bright purple, clean and clear fruit on the nose, a little sunshine but the fruit retains its shape. Good energy on the palate, a fine variety of different fruits, a fine thread of acidity too. Rouges du Bas retains the freshness. The little touch of austerity means it keeps well. Jean-Nicolas has normally recommended keeping this cuvée for the long term, but he now finds it delivers a little more finesse.
Barrel Sample: 94-97 -
Decanter
Labelled with the lieu-dit Rouges du Bas, paradoxically located fairly high on the slope, the parcel is 0.44ha and was planted in 1950. Méo acquired the property in 1987 and today it delivers a wine of profound concentration, with dark plummy fruit and notes of smoke, spice and a firm minerality. The wine can be a bit imposing, but there is also great elegance and finesse here.
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Wine Spectator
Silky and intense, exuding cherry, strawberry, rose and mineral flavors fused to a linear frame. Harmonious, this feels balanced and well-integrated, yet has the structure to age too. Ends with superb length.
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.