2012 Grands Echezeaux
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Tasting notes
Tasted blind at the annual "Burgfest" tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru from Domaine Georges Noëllat takes time to settle in the glass, some initial volatility eventually fading away to leave a rather attractive nose of redcurrant jam, spice-box and desiccated orange peel. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. This is very well balanced, backward of course, but the structure lends this a sense of symmetry and precision that leaves you wanting to take another sip. This is bestowed that aristocratic class that you seek in a Grands Echézeaux. Bravo Maxime.
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Neal Martin
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate
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With vines located between Domaine Lamarche and Albert Bichot, the 2012 Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru has a crystalline bouquet laced with vivacious red cherries, fresh strawberries and minerals that demonstrate more precision than the 2012 Echezeaux. The palate is extremely well-balanced, the mouth coming alive with tension and poise. Here, the 100% new oak is married more closely with the fruit thus allowing the terroir to shine though. This is Maxime’s piece de resistence in 2012.||“Noellat” might be a name synonymous with Vosne-Romanee for decades. However 22-year-old Maxime Cheurlin, Georges Noellat’s nephew, is a name to look for in the future. He grew up in Champagne rather than the Cote d’Or since his parents run a successful champagne house, but it seems that Maxime heard the calling and seems intent on reinstalling the family name in Burgundy. With some enviable parcels of vine scattered around the locale, Maxime works out of the family’s small cellars just behind his parents’ house whose conservatory offers a fantastic panorama across their holding of Les Chaumees. Stylistically, these wines reminded me of Sylvain Cathiard. Yes, there is a modern sheen lent by the new oak, although it only seemed to be slightly excessive with respect to the Echezeaux. Maxime seems to be a driven young vigneron whose tenets have been instilled from an early age, but wow – what potential! eRobertParker.com.December, 2013
About the producer
Domaine Georges Noëllat, based in the village of Vosne-Romanée is today run by Maxime Cheurlin. Cheurlin took over the domaine in 2010 – aged just 20 – and has since transformed its reputation as one of the finest Burgundy wine producers.