Winemaker Notes
Just like the precision and know-how of the best watchmakers, each bouquet from the Grande Complication is expressed with purityand authenticity. First, the wild berries - intense black currant and lively raspberry - reveal all the splendor of this selection of grapes. Then, the subtleness of the aromas comes out as sweet, spicy notes. Then there’s silence. Harmony, power, finesse, and purity blend in a precious and complex movement. The scale of the site is perfectly calibrated, and the grandeur of Pinot Noir is sublimating. La Grande Complication requires time to express itself with the emotions becoming more intense as this exceptional quest goes on.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Matured in 300-liter barrels made from oak that Mongeard selects and seasons himself, the 2019 Echézeaux Grand Cru La Grande Complication is a special cuvée that derives from vines planted in 1945 with the family's massal selections, located in the lieu-dit of Les Treux. Unwinding in the glass with notes of orange rind, rose petals, exotic spices, cherries and berries, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with a concentrated, tightly wound core that shows considerable promise for long-term cellaring. Fermented 100% whole bunches, it's one of the more reserved wines in the range.
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.