2006 Echezeaux

Musky floral and animal scents, high-toned kirsch and framboise, and sea breeze salinity and alkalinity lend Bizot's 2006 Echezeaux (from the les Orveaux section of that cru, high above Clos Vougeot) far and away the most intriguing nose in his current collection. Brightly-fruited on the palate, with its berry-tart edge serving for considerable invigoration, this exhibits an uncanny suggestion of caramelized, fruit-filled pastry, yet at the same time a lovely sense of transparency to persistent floral, mineral, and animal nuances. This should be worth following for at least a decade. Jean-Yves Bizot's wines characteristically strive for elegance and finesse, although his use of 100% new wood (albeit often in 350 liter capacity) can in my experience sometimes place a questionable burden on their often delicate fruit and frame. The wines are bottled directly from cask, barrel-by barrel, with very low dosages of sulfur, so they must be carefully stored, and there will be variation among wines that bear the same label. Unsurprisingly, Bizot claimed to have backed off on his already gentle fermentative regimen to encourage what he saw as the inherently graceful virtues of 2006. None of the wines were chaptalized (unlike in 2007) and none exceeds 12.5% alcohol. Bizot, incidentally, has reached and is apparently able to sustain for his tiny production some of the highest prices I have seen anywhere in Burgundy for non-premier cru wines. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524