GRANDS ÉCHEZEAUX

2017 Grand Cru Joseph Drouhin

EN PRIMEUR

35% Whole Clusters, 30% New Oak. This is another of their own vineyards. Right at the top left side of the Grands Echezeaux - beyond Clos Vougeot as you look to the côte from the road. This has more pep and grip and intensity. Beautifully aromatic and gentle on the nose but this certainly tastes like it has a future. The fruit is nicely ripe and has a certain sweet note, the feel is luxurious. Ripe but well held by the acidity and darker lined edge of some wood and meatier black fruit working in harmony with the build of spicy tannins. Drinking range: 2022 - 2030L&S (Nov 2018)

* 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 2017 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru might have a scintilla of brettanomyces that slightly occludes the fruit on the earthy, perhaps animally nose. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe red fruit, and quite toasty in style, showing modest depth and candied character toward the finish, which gains wonderful precision with time in the glass and reveals a long, persistent tail. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2017 tasting. Drinking range: 2024 - 2038 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2022)

(35% whole clusters). This is notably fresher and much more floral as well with a lovely panoply of spice elements adding interest to the elegant pure essence of red berry fruit aromas. The sleek and almost painfully intense large-scaled flavors possess evident muscle on the driving, firm and hugely long finish. This is terrific and should make for great old bones if anyone has the patience to wait. Drinking range: 2032 - Rating: 92-95 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Apr 2019)

A very stylish wine that delivers very well from the 2017 vintage. There’s a very brambly and juicy array of fine, spicy cherries with such appealing, sappy complexity already. So much energy in this wine. The palate brings a superb array of very bright and juicy red and darker cherries. Exceptional concentration. So vibrant and so generous. Drink or hold. Rating: 96 Nick Stock, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2019)

Introduced by aromas of black raspberries, smoky wild berries, grilled game and rich soil tones mingling in a complex bouquet, the 2017 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru, a full-bodied, deep and multidimensional wine with a concentrated core of fruit, velvety structuring tannins and a long, savory finish. While this possesses the charm that typifies this vintage at its best, it's one cuvée that will definitely reward bottle aging. Rating: 93-95 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Jan 2019)

The 2017 Grands-Echézeaux Grand Cru was picked on September 8 with 35% whole clusters. Deep garnet in color, it has a well-defined bouquet of brambly black fruit, briar, lightly crushed stone and a touch of iris petals. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, the acidity well-judged and imparting a natural balance. This is quite a suave Grands Echézeaux, a little spicy toward the second half, with gentle but insistent grip. Very good potential but it needs five or six years in bottle. Drinking range: 2023 - 2044 Rating: 93-95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2019)

Mid to deep cherry red. Scented with sweet red fruits, creamy, even a touch of vanilla. More restrained on the palate thanks to the tight tannin/acid structure but still scented. More notable acidity than in many wines in this vintage, a little more severe, but should age to elegance. Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 17.5+ Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Dec 2018)

If you like aromatic Pinot Noir, you'll love this wonderfully scented grand cru from the Drouhin stable. The oak needs a little more time to integrate on the palate, but this is a spicy, well balanced, structured red that shows the concentration of its old vines. 35% whole bunches add an extra dimension here. Drinking range: 2023 - 2030Tim Atkin MW - Decanter (Dec 2018)

Joseph Drouhin, founded in 1880 and still family owned, are one of the most well-respected names in Burgundy, especially through their flagship wine, the iconic Clos des Mouches.

A huge part of the Drouhin production comes from their own domaine fruit (78 hectares), and much of the rest comes from contracts such as that with the Marquis de Laguiche, who shook hands with the grandfather of the current generation, agreeing to let him manage his vineyards which included an important part of Le Montrachet; this collaboration endures. Today, the fourth generation is at the helm

Small refinements continue to be made here. The presses have been changed - a reversion to basket pressing for the reds, and for whites the presses are open - along with a number of other growers they are following the trend to think that slight oxidation of the juice before fermentation is not a problem and may add complexity as well as avoiding later problems of premature oxidation in bottle.

For the reds there has been the introduction of selective whole-bunch fermentation in the Côte de Nuits wines. The house style remains one that 'emphasises the natural elegance of great Burgundies' as they describe it. The domaine is all cultivated with an organic and biodynamic approach.

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