2016 Echezeaux
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Tasting notes
The 2016 Echézeaux Les Treux Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru certainly has one of the better aromatics from this Grand Cru with harmonious, well defined black cherry and raspberry fruit laced with cold stone and subtle sous-bois aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, fresh in the mouth with a focused and structured finish. Whilst it just has a touch of abruptness about it, otherwise this is a very well crafted Echézeaux. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.
Critic scores
Neal Martin
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(75% new oak; frost reduced the crop here by 40%): Dark ruby-red. High-toned aromas of plum, graphite minerality, mocha and chocolate; showing more obvious oak influence than the village wines (this was my only 2016 sample to include juice from a new barrel). Quite suave on entry, then tangy and vinous in the middle, displaying good energy and focus but only moderate flesh to its currant and spice flavors. The most tannic of these '16s, with brisk acidity from the second buds, which may also have diluted the blend a bit. Finishes with a faint acid edge. Will this ever display grand cru palate presence and weight?
The 2016 Echézeaux Les Treux Vieilles Vignes Grand Cru comes from 80-year-old vines in the titular lieu-dit and it will be matured in 75% new oak. Like many, these were devastated by the frost (see producer intro). It has a pure bouquet, quite intense for an Echézeaux with intense black and blue fruit, minerals, crushed violet and a discrete brine influence. The palate is medium-bodied with supple ripe tannin, a fine line of acidity and just the right sappiness toward the finish to urge you back for another sip. After racking, this will inevitably soften and gain suppleness, then give it 5 or 6 years in bottle before broaching. Very fine, though just two barrels produced.