Winemaker Notes
Lucien Le Moine has been producing one of the very finest examples of Échézeaux for several years running. Mounir says that you can make the analogy that Echezeaux is the syrah of Burgundy. On the Flagey side there is a flat exposition and the limestone is not as evident. As a result the wine has a licorice, smoky note which almost brings you to the Cote-Rotie.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Delicate and floral—like sunbathed roses grown in limestone at the edge of a vine row—this wine’s fragrance lasts for minutes, its power riveting, its elegance describing perfectly ripe berries with perfectly ripe seeds. The massive tannins have a dark mineral grip, adding to the wine’s addictive, almost magnetic attraction: powerfully concentrated and ethereal.
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.