2006 Echezeaux
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Tasting notes
Redolent of game and sweet floral perfume, the Bouchard 2006 Echezeaux comes to the palate with generous, red fruits mingling with underbrush, flowers, and game. This preserves a lip-smacking sense of primary juiciness, and vintage-typical buoyancy that is less common within the Cote de Nuits half of this particular collection. I would anticipate it's being worth following for a half dozen years, perhaps longer. Director Philippe Prost emphasized the importance of flexible and surgical picking (with a crew numbering upwards of 300) and getting his crop to Bouchard's battery of presses within two hours via a fleet of mini-vans. He insists that relatively little triage was necessary on the domaine vineyards (as opposed to those under contract) and the estate wines are certainly predictably stronger as a group. (I have generally mentioned in the notes that follow which wines are from Bouchard's domaine and which from contract fruit, but have explicitly noted this as part of a wine's description, only if there are two versions of the same appellation within the present portfolio.) The fruit was crushed very gently and the wines racked only once – at 10-14 months, than usual – explains Prost, in order to guard against exposed or drying tannins, a policy which my tastings suggest was generally successful. Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY; tel. (212) 605-6767
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
The Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Spicy, yeast extract nose. Some animal notes, Not very pure. Very sweet and thick. Overdone. (JR)
Good deep red-ruby. Superripe aromas of redcurrant liqueur, blueberry, red licorice, spices, leather, earth and toast. Supple, sweet and fine-gained, with lovely minerality giving it a light touch. Very suave, long wine, finishing with smooth tannins, a strong flavor of dark berries and terrific lift.
A relatively subtle touch of wood frames a highly spiced red berry fruit nose that displays nuances of earth and smoke that are in keeping with the rich, full, sweet and mouth coating flavors that are really quite supple, indeed even forward yet the finish is very firm and moderately austere. Like the best wines in this range, there is an impressive amount of dry extract that confers a textured quality to the backend. Allen Meadows, Burghound. Apr01,2008
About the producer
Bouchard Père & Fils is one of Burgundy’s oldest and most established wine producers. Founded in 1731 by Michel Bouchard, it is the largest vineyard owner in the Côte d’Or with 130 hectares of vines.