2012 Grands Echezeaux

Another big, powerful wine, the 2012 Grands Echezeaux stands out for its broad frame and expansive personality. Black cherries, plums, spices, menthol and tobacco flesh out in a firm yet voluptuous Burgundy that should drink nicely for a number of years. The finish is imposing and virile, yet impeccable in its balance.

The 2012 Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru offers a more refined bouquet than the Clos de Vougeot with clean and pure fresh strawberry and bergamot scents that are well defined. The palate is crisp on the entry with touches of orange zest penetrating the dark berry fruit, cruising along towards and enjoyable spicy finish that linger long in the mouth. Fine. Bernard gave me a superb boogie-woogie rendition of “Amazing Grace” on his Steinway, one that Jools Holland would be proud of, following my tasting of 2012s His grand piano, parked in a cavernous annex of his renovated cellar, is truly something to behold. There it stands against the craggy, fissured limestone walls that form a jaw-dropping juxtaposition against what appears to be the dance-floor at Studio 54. I’ve been visiting this address ever since I started in the wine trade and Bernard Gros’s style has remained unchanged during that period. These are big wines lavished in new oak – always have been and maybe always will be. I cannot help feeling that the range would be improved without resorting 100% new oak on every single cuvee from the village Vosne-Romanee upwards and I sometimes question the practice of heating the wines to 40 degrees for 24 hours to give rounder tannins. Is that over-egging an already very tasty cake? The wines are occasionally subjugated by the new wood and my experience of mature bottles suggests that they never quite shake it off, although there are Burgundy lovers who appreciate that style, perhaps in Japan where Bernard enjoys a strong following. When you start reaching the grand crus, in particular the Richebourg, only then you can see that the intense fruit is able to carry the wood and fully absorb it, allowing the terroir to show through. Bernard Gros is one of Vosne-Romanee’s most entertaining winemakers. I just hope that in future vintages he’ll just retreat a little from the cooperage so that we can see his propitious vineyards. Importer: Atherton Imports, Menlo Park, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639

This is also redolent of a full-on oak treatment though there are at least some spice elements perceptible in the background of the cassis and plum suffused nose. There is even more volume to the big-bodied, intense and solidly well-concentrated flavors that possess good energy on the palate coating finish. Like virtually all of the upper levels wines in 2012 the finish is very toasty. Tasted: Jan 15, 2014. Drink: 2022+