Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2022 Echézeaux Les Loächausses Grand Cru is the maiden release from a 0.38-hectare strip that hitherto was part of the cuvée produced by Gros Frère & Soeur and is matured in 100% new oak. [Readers should note that Paul Gros, son of Anne, is farming the same lieu-dit to be released under his own name.] It has a tightly wound nose at first. Then it opens with ebullient red berry fruit, Japanese yuzu, a smear of Seville orange marmalade, and sous-bois aromas. The palate is smooth and harmonious, quite plush in style - lots of rondeur here. It’s quite toasty toward the finish due to the oak, but it feels long and sumptuous. Afford this several years to soak up the wood.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
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.