ÉCHEZEAUX

2016 Grand Cru Domaine J. Confuron Cotetidot

EN PRIMEUR

Yikes. There is a buzz here. Lovely, pert, dark fruit. But this is upfront and the middle is deliciously ripe. Loaded with spice, lots of whole bunch chewiness is in evidence. I like darkness which gently begins to shroud the palate. Serious dark fruit and brood. Great feel though, such a suave texture of tannins. L&S (Oct 2017)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

The 2016 Echézeaux Grand Cru has a very candied bouquet with vanilla-infused maraschino fruit, attractive but not exactly Pinot Noir. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannin, grippy and rather aggressive on the finish. The wood tannins are not exactly beckoning you back for another sip. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting. Drinking range: 2020 - 2030 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Oct 2019)

(from a .45 ha parcel in Les Treux where Clos de Vougeot meets Grands Echézeaux; from yields of only 11 hl/ha in 2016). The wood is a bit more prominent on the ripe if reserved nose that closely resembles that of the Suchots. The exceptionally rich and lavishly concentrated big-bodied flavors possess a velvety mouthfeel thanks to the almost thick dry extract that serves to also buffer the notably firm tannic spine on the incredibly powerful finish. This won’t win any awards for refinement but it is certainly impressive in its fashion. Drinking range: 2033 - Rating: 92-94 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2018)

Cask sample. Blueberry, blackberry, cinnamon spice and many layers of tannic fur on the palate. This is at the very least a great demonstration of why great wines need age – because at present, it is giving nothing away. Long maturation is imperative. Drinking range: 2031 - 2051 Rating: 18++ Richard Hemming MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Jan 2018)

(the estate's vines are situated in the northeast corner of Les Treux, against the Grands-Echézeaux of Domaine d'Eugénie): Bright ruby-red. More medicinal and less relaxed on the nose than the Suchots (like the Lavaut Saint-Jacques, this wine completed its malo in September and was thus farther from being finished in January). Impressively concentrated but youthfully ungiving, conveying a medicinal quality to its flavors of black cherry, dark berries, spices and earth. Quite dry and savory in the early going, with its fruit sweetness under wraps. Finishes with noteworthy length but the granular tannins are tough going today. This extract-rich wine from a severely frosted site needs more élevage to stretch out. Rating: 91-94 Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (Jan 2018)

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'.

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