2016 Echezeaux

(Marchand-Tawse made this wine from Les Grands Poulaillères for three years but the fruit here was wiped out by frost in 2016, and thus this wine comes from 75-year-old vines in Les Rouges du Bas; 100% destemmed): Healthy dark red. Highly perfumed aromas and flavors of raspberry, brown spices, menthol and licorice. Juicy, penetrating Echézeaux with lovely inner-mouth lift and refinement. The wine's weight is perfectly leavened by ripe, integrated acidity. Finishes firmly tannic and long, with considerable class.

The 2016 Echezeaux Grand Cru, which was hit hard by the frost, comes from Les Rouge du Bas and Les Treux. It has a straightforward redcurrant and strawberry-scented bouquet with touches of smoke and leather. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, ripe tannin, crisp acidity and a grippy, slightly coarse finish that will need to forage more sophistication in bottle. I feel that the difficulties of the growing season overwhelm this wine.