Winemaker Notes
Deep red color. Intense nose of red and black fruits. The mouth is fleshy with some intensity and offers a long aftertaste. This prestigious wine has a very long potential for ageing. In its youth, the wine displays aromas of great finesse, reminiscent of cherry and dark chocolate or cocoa bean, which is a delicate and sought-after characteristic of this wine. As the wine matures, these aromas evolve towards other refined nuances evoking undergrowth, truffle, fine leather and sometimes light notes of cigar or cedar wood. The tannins are refined, and the silk and velvet of the body are a perfect match. Very long aftertaste in which some of the aromas previously encountered are again in evident and create the most elegant sensation.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A classic-styled Echezeaux with smoke, dried strawberries and spices. Flowers, too. Full body, dusty tannins and firm, polished and textured finish. Needs four or five years to open but a beautiful wine to taste now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru was a little more reduced on the nose than the Echezeaux at this early stage, though there appears to be great power and intensity waiting to unfurl. The palate is medium-bodied, intense with a very silky texture belying the backbone underneath. This is more masculine, perhaps even more austere than the Echézeaux, but it is beautifully balanced with a very long tail on the finish. There is ambition locked into this nascent Grand Cru.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Decanter
Smoky, toasty nose from just one-third new oak. Rich and velvety palate showing very concentrated, generous fruit with depth and opulence. There is power but not excessive force. Very spicy on the finish, linear, persistent and fresh.
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.