ÉCHEZEAUX
2014 Grand Cru Domaine J. Confuron Cotetidot
Great pure ripeness on the nose. Rich density combines with a grippy feel. Sweet fruit liqueur, crème de fruits, forest floor. All in a tight weave - there's real power here. Drinking range: 2023 - L&S (Nov 2015)
75cl bottles (case of 6)
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(from the climat Les Treux; malo not quite finished):Deep bright red-ruby. Blackberry, licorice and violet aromas are sharpened by the remaining malic acidity. Juicy, precise and imploded, with the wine's chiseled aspect no doubt accentuated by the malic acidity. Firm tannins saturate the palate on the very long finish. (The Charmes-Chambertin had more malic acidity yet to convert and was very tightly wound and difficult to taste, so I will wait to report on this wine in its finished form. ) Rating: 91-94 Stephen Tanzer, www.vinousmedia.com (Jan 2016)
(from a .45 ha parcel in Les Treux where Clos de Vougeot meets Grands Echézeaux). Somewhat surprisingly this is even more floral with its cool and ultra-fresh nose of various dark berries, sandalwood and a lovely array of spices. I very much like the seductive texture of the big-bodied flavors that aren’t quite as dense or structured as those of the Suchots but they’re notably finer, all wrapped in a dusty, palate coating and gorgeously long finish. Excellent. Drinking range: - 2026 Rating: 92-95 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2016)
This is an old vine parcel in the lieu-dit of Les Treux with an average age of 55 years. It’s quite firm and austere at the moment, with the whole bunches contributing a smoky, slightly drying note, but what lies beneath is sappy and refreshing, with subtle berry fruit. It just needs time to come together in bottle. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030 Rating: 95 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Jan 2016)
Domaine J. Confuron Cotetidot
Vignerons since the seventeenth century, the Confuron family has always selected and propagated vines to ensure that their plant material produces the highest quality, and they even have a clone of Pinot named after them - 'Pinot Confuron'.
The domaine has several Grands Cru vineyards as well as two hectares of the great Vosne Romanée Premier Cru 'Les Suchots'. There are around 12 hectares in all. The vines have never seen chemical weedkillers, and are ploughed and managed organically.
The Confurons have always used whole-bunch fermentation, picking very late, which really is a necessity if the stems are to be properly ripe and not give green flavours to the wine. A bit like the Thévenets with their whites in the Mâconnais, they pick so much later that they can seem to have different vintages to everyone else. Yves thinks that 2007 was their great vintage of the first decade of this millennium, and he'd probably be the only grower in the Côte de Nuits who would say that. Yves also makes the wines at Domaine de Courcelin Pommard, in the same way.
Yves, opinionated and laconical as ever, dismisses those who make pale wines by 'infusion' and says that failing to get the whole bunches properly ripe - and using all the bunch - is failing to get everything the terroir can offer. The wines he makes are dark, richly concentrated, and often hard to taste in their development, but experience shows that they age brilliantly. Defending his decision to pick late, he once said 'you miss the differentiation between vintages' if you don't - making 'cut-and-paste' wines which are the same every year... if you pay for a seat at the opera, you don't want to hear a variety singer'.