Echezeaux Grand cru
2016
Founded in 1825, Domaine Faiveley is one of Burgundy's greatest domaines. Originally the company was a classic negotiant business, based in Nuits St. Georges and engaged in the buying and selling of wine but not the production of it. After seven generations of steadily acquiring properties throughout the Cotes de Nuits, the Cotes de Beaune, Cotes Chalonnaise and now Chablis, the Faiveley family have established themselves as the most important vineyard owners in Burgundy, with 125 hectares of...
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One of the few Grand Cru bottlings that carries the name of its climat on the label, this was hit by frost but has emerged unscathed in terms of quality. This is a wonderfully elegant Echézeaux that has Chambolle-like aromas and texture. Graceful and well balanced with black cherry and raspberry fruit and crunchy acidity.
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Sourced from a single parcel in the lieu dit of En Orveaux, this is a smart wine that’s given the appropriate amount of new oak (70%). It’s very vivid, almost energetic, with plush, yet focused flavours of Asian spices, fresh raspberries, redcurrants and pomegranate-like acidity. 2016-25
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Sourced from a 0.83-hectare site that tends to be best in cooler, wetter years, this aromatic Grand Cru red is fine and well balanced, caressing rather than bludgeoning the palate. Savoury, spicy and sweetly fruity, this is all raspberry and wild strawberry with underlying minerality. 2017-27
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So close to the Combe d’Orveaux that it’s almost in Chambolle-Musigny, this is a lighter style of Echézeaux with the charm and sweetness of its neighbouring village. Perfumed, focused and refined, it’s fresh and long with appealing red fruits’ sweetness and bright, sappy acidity.
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As it was last year, this is a lighter style of Echézeaux, sourced from a vineyard that is so close to the Combe d’Orveaux that it’s almost in Chambolle-Musigny. It’s a fragrant, ethereal style: silky, scented and refined. It won’t make old bones, but it will be delicious young.
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So perfumed and floral on the nose with dark fruit underneath it all. Clay, too. Full-bodied and very dense yet so agile and bright at the same time. I really like the contrast to this wine.
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South-facing and located next to the Combe d’Orveau, this site tends to do best in cooler years, but it’s confounded my expectations in warmer 2015. Fresh, elegant and balanced, it’s close to a Musigny in both style and geography. Finesse, freshness and silky tannins with pithy underlying minerality.
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Good medium red. Redcurrant and smoky oak on the nose, with darker fruits and flowers emerging with air. A sweet, lightly saline midweight, with intense berry, mint and mineral flavors showing lovely inner-mouth lift. Finishes classically dry and still a bit youthfully clenched, with a sound acid/tannin backbone to support aging.
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(from a warm southern exposure in the lieu-dit Combe d'Orveaux; aging in two-thirds new oak): Medium red. Aromas of red cherry, cinnamon and earth. Silky, suave and sweet, with a slightly candied quality to the cherry, spice and mint flavors. Savory, stylish Echezeaux with a long, saline, soil-driven finish. This very ripe wine will nonetheless require four or five years of cellaring to absorb some of its tannins.
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(from a .45 ha parcel in Les Treux where Clos de Vougeot meets Grands Echézeaux). Strong reduction dominates the nose. There is an attractively round and supple mid-palate to the concentrated and ripe medium-bodied flavors that brim with dry extract that imparts a sappy texture to the mouth coating, impressively long and very firmly structured finish. Patience is absolutely required here.
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(aged in two-thirds new oak; this was 11.8% potential alcohol chaptalized to 12.8%): Medium red. Musky aromas of red fruits and animal fur. Sharply focused and pure if tightly coiled, showing terrific cut to its intense red berry flavors. A wine of moderate volume but terrific sappy digestibility. This youthfully taut, rather cool Echézeaux (I might have picked it blind as coming from Chambolle-Musigny) will need considerable time in bottle to unwind.
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(from en Orveaux next to the Combe d'Orveaux but situated on a steep, south-facing slope with thin white topsoil): Bright red-ruby. Lovely perfumed aromas of rose petal, minerals and espresso. Boasts superb definition and energy in the mouth, accentuated by a high level of CO2. Youthfully backward and very long, showing no edges. This is always the Faiveley grand cru picked with the lowest potential alcohol, noted technical manager Jerôme Flous. Quite uncompromising in the early going.
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Good bright, medium red. Red cherry, redcurrant, smoke and white pepper on the nose, complemented by mellow oak tones. Rich, dense and silky, with a dominant flavor of sweet raspberry. Really opens out on the back half, then grips the palate on the very long finish, which features a note of bitter orange zest. This wine began with the lowest potential alcohol of all of Faiveley's grand cru holdings in 2011 (it was 11.8%, chaptalized to 12.6%), and will rely as much on its acidity as on its tannins for aging.
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Drink 2017-2027 - Dense and lively. A little bit of oak in evidence but lots of dense fruit too. Set for the very long term!
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An intensely floral nose is notably ripe with notes of plum, spice, black raspberry and cassis in evidence. There is a seductive texture to the solidly well-concentrated medium weight plus flavors that benefit from plenty of structure-buffering dry extract such that this seems more forward than it really is. The tannins are dense but fine and this should significantly reward 12 to 15 years of cellaring
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A notably spicy and attractively floral-suffused nose features notes of plum, rose petal, violets and ripe red currants. There is a seductive texture to the openly rich and generously proportioned flavors that retain a lovely sense of vibrancy on the lightly mineral-inflected finish that delivers both fine depth and length. This is a relatively refined Ech thanks to the fine grain of the supporting tannins.
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(from En Orveaux). Background wisps of wood easily allow the spiced and quite floral-scented plum, red currant and dark cherry aromas to shine. There is good minerality to the seductively textured, velvety and even opulent medium weight flavors that display good power and punch on the relatively refined, balanced and beautifully persistent finish. The supporting tannins are dense but fine and this should drink well after 7 to 8 years of bottle age yet successfully age for far longer if that’s your preference.
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(from En Orveaux). A spicy yet reserved nose grudgingly displays notes of both red and blue pinot fruit that is trimmed in hints of violets and sandalwood. There is good richness to the detailed, intense and vibrant middle weight flavors that possess good volume and focused power on the ever-so-slightly austere finish that is balanced and refreshing. This too is going to need a long stay in a cool cellar but should very much be worth the wait.
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