2014 Grands Echezeaux

(the Noëllat parcel is in the center of the appellation, according to Cheurlin): Bright, full red. Great musky perfume of blackberry, wild small red berries, smoky minerals, rose petal and licorice. Wonderfully elegant and racy on the palate, showing terrific energy and stony definition to the urgent wild berry, mineral and floral flavors. A dense yet weightless wine of great finesse and vibrancy--in other words, classic Grands-Echézeaux. But still an infant today, finishing with great rising stony length and a whiplash of perfume. Great inner-mouth tension and purity here. Cheurlin may not bottle this beauty until May.

The 2014 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru comes from the domaine 0.4 hectares of vine. It demonstrated plenty of freshness and vitality on the nose, which is why Maxime de-stems the whole crop lest the pH becomes too low. The 100% new oak is very discrete here. The palate is beautifully framed by filigree tannin, the fruit here pure and suffused with freshness and tension. There is a wonderful symmetry at play, more structure than the Echézeaux towards the very sustained finish.

The Grands Echezeaux is another step up in quality offering a more hedonistic and charming version of the Flagey-Echezeaux qualities. In the bouquet layered red and dark fruits … lovely depth and generosity offering a delicate play between sweet red fruits and darker more vibrant notes … all brought forward by a deep elegant earthy minerality. This is a textbook Grands Echezeaux with a nervy and vibrant midpalate fruit – rich and airy – long and generous – with that classic hedonistic opulence on the midpalate. A wine build for pleasure, joy and indulgence on a cold January evening … preferably from magnum and in abundance in large Riedel cups! Oh joy! Nov 2015, www.winehog.org, Drink: 2028+