Winemaker Notes
Dark, dense ruby in color. Black fruit dominated by notes of violets and peonies. Initially closed, but a little oxygenation brings out notes of sweet spice and a complex, meaty aroma. Big, bold and muscular, the wine is very rich on the middle palate, with the aromatics continuing through to the finish. A good structure also through to the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
This comes from the Echezeaux du Dessus, a plot purchased in the 1960s which must have been almost immediately replanted as the vines are now 50 years old. 30% whole bunch vinification and 70% of the cuvée is in new wood but we tasted from a one year old barrel. Equally dense purple in colour. Haunting qualities with real depth. Firm and forceful, some fine-grained tannins, covered with a wealth of rich red fruit including some strawberries.
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.