2010 Echezeaux

The 2010 Echézeaux bursts from the glass with the sexiest, most expressive bouquet imaginable. Sweet red cherries, spices, hard candy, licorice and menthol are some of the many notes that are woven together in this rich, expansive Echézeaux. The sheer depth and clarity of the fruit is striking. This is a great showing. The Echézeaux is made from parcels in Les Rouges du Bas and Quartiers de Nuits that are picked the same day and vinified together.

Good full, bright red. Redcurrant, pepper and dusty cardamom on the nose. Concentrated cherry fruit complicated by spicy, savory nuances. Tactile, chewy and slightly high-toned, finishing with more obvious tannins than the Feusselottes and Chaignots. But already quite showy and sharply focused.

The 2010 Echezeaux bursts from the glass with the sexiest, most expressive bouquet imaginable. Sweet red cherries, spices, hard candy, licorice and menthol are some of the many notes that are woven together in this rich, expansive Echezeaux. The sheer depth and clarity of the fruit is striking. This is a great showing. The Echezeaux is made from parcels in Les Rouges du Bas and Quartiers de Nuits that are picked the same day and vinified together. Anticipated maturity: 2025-2045. Sisters Marie-Andree and Marie-Christine Mugneret had a tough harvest in 2010. For starters, the December frost wiped out a hectare of Vosnes villages just behind the winery. The vineyard has been replanted and will be used for the Bourgogne until it reaches the age necessary for it to once again be part of the villages bottling. Overall production is 22,000 bottles versus the more normal 34,000. As for the wines, well, they are magnificent. The same holds true for the 2009s, which I will report on in the next issue. Importers: Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300, a Peter Vezan Selection (various importers), Paris; fax 011 33 1 42 55 42 93