2016 Echezeaux
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Tasting notes
(just two barrels made in 2016, vs. eight in 2017--the equivalent of just over nine hectoliters per hectare, according to Mallard): Bright dark red. Sappy scents of red cherry, raspberry and licorice; this wine included some second-generation. Tightly wound and youthfully medicinal, showing no easy sweetness to its flavors of black cherry, licorice, menthol and herbs. A distinctly austere style for the vintage, this wine will need considerable time in bottle to unwind. Finishes with palate-saturating tannins.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Echézeaux Grand Cru was 95% impacted by frost, and Michel Mallard was not expecting to make a single barrel. Actually, he managed to get two barrels because the second generation buds started growing with alacrity. It was destemmed by hand, and one of the barrels is new. It has a very pure bouquet with dark cherries, cassis and violet scents, something almost “serene” about these aromatics, belying the “trauma” of the growing season. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin, almost symmetrical in terms of focus, sorbet-fresh toward the finish with just a faint hint of blood orange and citrus lemon. This actually challenges the Grands Echézeaux, and it will be fascinating to see them age side by side.
Yield just 8 hl/ha yield. Two pièces. Combe d’Orveau. 95% frozen. A small proportion of fruit was second crop. Very dark crimson. Very attractive alluring nose. Really quite sumptuous. Fresh and fruity – not a note one usually writes about a grand cru – but with very marked ripe tannins underneath. Ambitious. Muscular under the pretty tight, focused fruit. This domaine definitely goes its own way. Fruit almost hides the tannins. Bone dry, rather minerally finish and then pretty persistent. Just slightly but not fatally bitter on the end. (JR)