2014 Echezeaux

Bright ruby-red. Very dark, high-pitched aromas of blackberry, black cherry, violet, espresso and graphite, plus a minty high note. Juicy, penetrating wine with superb inner-mouth floral lift to its intense dark fruit flavors. Doesn't have the fleshiness of the 2015 version but this is a splendid Echézeaux in a classic, savory style. Still a bit youthfully imploded but not hard, with building tannins that call for extended cellaring. Incidentally, Etienne Grivot finds most of his 2014s to be drinkable now owing to their juicy fruit, noting that his Clos de Vougeot needs to be served with food but that this Echézeaux "supplies its own sweetness."

Bright ruby-red. Complex, inviting aromas of black raspberry, roast coffee, licorice and garrigue . Densely packed and sweet, with firm but harmonious acidity framing and intensifying the flavors of brambly dark berries, spices and wild herbs. At once sensual and precise, this grand cru finishes with a powerful spine of tannins supported by fruit. Really spreads out to saturate the palate.

The 2014 Echézeaux Grand Cru has a deep, broody bouquet with blackberry and raspberry confit aromas, a touch of fig in the background lending a touch of exoticism but nothing extreme. The palate is full-bodied with firm tannin, a little grainy in texture with a deep well of blackberry and raspberry fruit infused with slightly savory, meaty notes towards the finish that gently fans out. Good material/substance here -- it deserves 3-5 years in bottle.