2018 Echezeaux

Naughty heavy bottle. Cinnamon, blue fruit and stones, with a robustly structured, drying palate. Quite hard work for what it is, though does have the perfumed length one might expect from a grand cru. (TJ)

The 2018 Echézeaux Grand Cru, from the Combe d’Orveaux lieu-dit, has a tightly wound, slightly static bouquet compared to the Clos de Vougeot. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and good weight in the mouth, and the 50% to 70% whole-cluster fruit lends complexity on the finish. This is a backward Echezeaux that needs several years in bottle. Finely crafted.

Aromas of raspberries, red plums, orange rind, peonies and raw cocoa introduce the 2018 Echézeaux Grand Cru, a medium to full-bodied, muscular and structured wine that, like this year's Clos Vougeot, will need some time. And like the Clos Vougeot, this was hard to read in October, so a more definitive assessment will have to wait until the wine is bottled.