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  • Country ranking ?

    1 259
  • Producer ranking ?

    240
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035

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The Story

The wine-growing village of Flagey-Échezeaux lies in the " Plain ", so-called, between Vougeot and Vosne-Romanée in the Côte de Nuits. Facing east, the Grands-Échezeaux vines are a prolongation of Musigny following the North-South axis of the Côte, but more regular and less broken in their layout. At the bottom end, the " Climat " known as La Combe d'Orveau separates them from Musigny. The Échezeaux vineyards, for their part, divide the Clos de Vougeot from the Premier Cru vines of Vosne-Romanée.
Grands-Échezeaux and Échezeaux both date their Grands Crus AOCs from July 31, 1937. Like the Clos de Vougeot (from which they are separated only by a wall), they were founded by the monks of the abbey of Cîteaux and date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Their name derives from chesaux, a word of Gallo-Roman origin meaning a group of dwellings, presumably referring to an ancient hamlet.

Belonging geologically to the Jurassic (175 million years BC), the GrandsÉchezeaux vineyards are fairly homogeneous and lie close to the upper part of the Clos de Vougeot. Gradient: 3-4%. Soil: clay-limestone overlying Bajocien limestone. Altitudes: 250 metres. The Échezeaux Climats have more diverse soils (largely bajocien marls with pebbly overlay). Altitudes vary from 230 to a little over 300 metres (13% gradient at mid-slope). Up-slope, the soil is deep (70-80 cm). Gravels, red alluvium, yellowish marl, etc., make up quite a complex mosaic.

Red: its colour is ruby, shading towards the darker tones of magenta and purple. Its bouquet is redolent of animal, spice notes, underbrush, and prune, evolving with age towards musk, leather, fur and mushroom. When young, its aromas suggest rose, violet and fresh cherry. On the palate, there is a heightened attack and an agreeable balance between supple tannins and fully-rounded flavour. The dense texture and tight grain of these wines fully open after 4-5 years in the cellar.

Wines so powerful and full demand to be matched with dishes of the same calibre. Virile, four-sided tannins cry out for roast lamb, rib steak, or joints of game. Autumn and winter dishes in the right setting match the profound and meaty personality of these great wines : braised beef or pork, for example, or any other good red meat. Fine, whole-milk, soft-centred cheeses will also do them proud.

Serving temperature : 15 to 16 °C.

 

 


 

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Wine Information

2006 Harvest

A vigneron's challenge again !

At the time of this writing, the vineyards, relieved of their fruit, have begun to change colour. The soft October sun is caressing the red and gold hills. The villages are quiet again after the hubbub of the harvest. The streets are filled with generous fragrances coming from the wineries where fermentations are proceeding. The birth of this new vintage is a real pleasure to the senses !

The climatic conditions in 2006 were a little crazy and at first such a great source of anguish before restoring, against all expectations, our optimism and confidence, that they would deserve to be described in detail.
In brief, what did we see ?

- a long totally unusual heat-wave in July which had the effect of stopping the vegetative cycle of some vines, even though most of them showed their amazing ability to stand the stress.
- the coolest and rainiest August since 1986, favourable to botrytis that set in very early.

- in this strange scenario, what was the behaviour of the vineyards ?
In fact, after those extremes of heat, cold and humidity that succeeded one another in a scattered upside down order, a decisive factor appeared that brought the vintage towards a happy end : hot weather, without any rain at all, that from September 1st lasted for the whole month, except for a short stormy episode on September 23rd and 24th. These ideal conditions permitted the vineyards to efficiently use the water retained in the soil thanks to the rains of August and therefore to accelerate in a totally outstanding manner the ripening of the grapes. In September the sugar levels increased sometimes by almost 2 degrees in one week, especially during the third week.

Finally, the grapes that we picked were as ripe as in 2005. Of course the botrytis that had set in with the rains of August, but had stopped developing when the fine weather had returned, was still present. Lying in wait, it reappeared during the harvest on the bad stormy day of Sunday September 24th. Luckily, it was too late and the episode was too short, to cause real damage.

The year was therefore difficult, but it gave the vigneron the opportunity to make great wines, as long as he had used the right means to harvest ripe grapes before the botrytis did too much harm. First, the control of the yield was essential. The fine "Pinot Noir fin" which bears small clusters with small berries showed how its predominant presence is important in our vineyards, even though it was also necessary to thin the young vines at the time of the "veraison". In such climatic conditions, only low yields could first allow the vines to fight the heat and later the attacks of botrytis, then to obtain the precocious maturity that was necessary to enable us to harvest before the rain came back.

The "philosophy" of the harvest itself was a major factor in the quality of the grapes we brought in. An ultra-meticulous sorting was crucial in order to eliminate the botrytis. Our experienced team of pickers did a great job. Day after day, the work was done to perfection. In the vineyards, Gérard Marlot, our vineyard manager, who is about to retire, and his successor, Nicolas Jacob, admirably managed to maintain the vigilance of the pickers. Then in the winery, Bernard Noblet's team performed once again « haute couture » selection on the sorting table and put the finishing touches to the pickers' work.

In summary, the conditions were admittedly difficult, but excellent at the end of the growing season, which gave us the possibility to bring in ripe sugar-rich grapes.

We ourselves feel as though we adjusted everything as correctly as it was possible to do. First, regarding the date of the harvest - it was necessary to wait until the grapes were fully ripe, but to bear in mind that the rot was spreading. Then the yields had to be quite low and it was essential to have a final selection by the sorting of the grapes.

We harvested in the following order :

Richebourg ....................... 20th and 21st September
La Tâche .......................... 21st, 22nd and 23rd September
Romanée-Conti ................ 22nd September (morning)
Romanée-St-Vivant ......... 23rd and 27th September
Grands-Echezeaux ........... 25th September
Echezeaux ....................... 25th and 27th September

The Montrachet was harvested on the sunny morning of September 26th. The low yields and the amazing ripeness of the Chardonnay grapes, gold and juicy, full of sugar and slightly "botrytised" - just what is needed - should give a great 2006 Montrachet.

The yields of the red wines do not exceed 28hl/ha.

The beginning of the fermentations were rapid and spontaneous, the vinifications proceeded without any difficulty. The vatting lasted as usual, around 18 days.

It is too early to give a definitive opinion about the quality or to make comparisons with other vintages, but the first wines seem to come up to our expectations : the beautiful deep colours, the generous fragrances and the silky texture in the mouth promise wines with great finesse.

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Vintage 2006

2006 VINTAGE in Burgundy

The personality of Burgundy wines makes the difference

A charmer. Such is the epithet most frequently employed when Burgundy's newest vintage is evoked. Nearly two months after the grape harvest, and following a year typified by rather fantastical weather, Burgundy is finally catching its breath. The 2006 vintage, a preoccupying one which never allowed an idle moment, both in the vineyards and in the cellars, excels in its whites and surprises with its reds.

"Like the flowering of the vines which was concentrated over only a few days, the grape harvest did not follow its habitual course throughout the vineyards of Burgundy, " confided Michel Baldissini, President of the B.I.V.B. 

Indeed, organizing the grape harvest was no simple undertaking, and choosing the optimal dates was particularly challenging as September's sunshine suddenly ripened grapes which had been previously languishing throughout August. 

Even though a careful sorting of the harvest was required the result is now promising, particularly thanks to the knowledge and expertise of the winemakers. As such, even more than with other years, the choices made in the vineyard and during the vinification process were primordial for the creation of the wines of 2006. 

2006 is a year that has never stopped surprising us, from its metrological conditions through to the wine that has finally been obtained. This wine is still being patiently worked with, and now shows the promise of many pleasant and memorable tastings. 

The white wines
With their seductive nature, these wines promise to be excellent. Supple and fresh, they are already proving to be expressive and fruity in the mouth and boast considerable richness. Their aromas conjure up citrus fruits, white fruits and their flowers, with notes of sugared and stewed fruits at the more elevated degrees. Chablis expresses its typical minerality marvellously. We have noticed a very agreeable uniformity of quality from Chablis to Mâcon, as well as respect paid to the specificity of different wine districts. 

The red wines
Burgundy globally presents high quality wines with nevertheless more uniformity in the Côte de Nuits and in the Auxerre district.
The wine boasts beautiful, intense colours. Indeed, thanks to analyses performed on the grapes to find out their "anthocyanes" quotient (this is the molecule contained in the grapes' skin which confers its red colour) and their extractability, the winemakers benefited from valuable indications which allowed them to choose the techniques best adapted to revealing the grapes' full potential. Just before the grape harvest, the longevity of the tannins was relatively high, but regular tasting during the maceration period allowed for the adjustment of these tannins so that more balanced wines were produced. The careful sorting of the grapes at harvest time, a determining factor this year, undeniably created the parameters of the red wines' quality. 
Some are delicate and elegant, while we have found others to be robust and full-bodied, which indicated a fine capacity for ageing. Their aromas flirt equally with red fruits (raspberry, red currant) as with cherry, spices and cocoa. 

As such, we find a concrete recompense for all the efforts made in the name of quality by the entirety of the players in the Burgundian wine industry.

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Tasting note

ending

Smooth

flavors

Mushrooms, Earthy, Mineral, New-oak and Spice

taste

High in Acidity, Medium-bodied and Fruity

Written Notes

Moderately light ruby red colour. Open floral nose with jasmine and violets, touch of cedar, ripe wild strawberries and cappuccino nuances. Very refined silky texture, delicate ripe red fruit character combined with floral tones. Subtle and extremely polished tannins. Long spicy finish including clove and cinnamon flavours. Drinking superbly already now.
  • 88p

“I very much like the overall sense of balance and about the only nit is a trace of backend warmth.”(92pts BH)

  • 92p

Good full red. Pretty, nuanced aromas of red fruits, flowers and tobacco. Wonderfully tactile and juicy, with terrific acid cut giving grip to the sappy red berry and saline flavors. Finishes with sweet tannins and lovely lingering perfume. This struck me as exuberant and expansive for a grand cru from this year-and that's hardly a complaint. A big success for this cuvee.

  • 92p

Domaine De La Romanee-Conti's 2006 Echezeaux is significantly more perfumed and brighter than the corresponding Duvault-Blochet cuvee. Cherry, red raspberry, and grenadine in the nose are alluringly entwined with bittersweet, iris-like floral perfume and tinged with flattering, oak-enhanced nutmeg and vanilla. This displays the levity and textural refinement one comes to cherish in so many of the better wines of its vintage, and the persistent sense of florality perfectly suits the lift and vivacity of an invigoratingly lingering finish. At the same time, there is marrow-like meaty richness to add depth. The equilibrium here seems to me typically of 2006, too, but de Villaine also credits the equilibrium that the vines here – now averaging 45 years of age – have attained. There is more than enough tannin in place to match the wine's energy and to insure at least 10-12 years of delight, but this is much more immediately charming than the corresponding 2005.

  • 92p
2006 ECHEZEAUX GRAND CRU Earthy and fruity nose with dark red berry fruit, strawbeeries and wild artic raspberies, green vegetable notes, hints of asian spice, oak and mushrooms. Stays a bit restrained and closed 5 years old. Medium bodied on the light side with dark red berry fruit wrapped in spices and earthy mineral notes. Smooth tannins and bright acidity keeps this focused on the finish. More fruit than elegance but just what you should expect from this wine. Wait a few years for it to develop. For medium term drinking. Drink 2014-2024 90+p.
  • 90p
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Information

Origin

Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy

Other wines from this producer

Bâtard-Montrachet

Corton-Charlemagne

Corton Grand Cru

Grands Echézeaux

La Romanée-Conti Grand Cru

La Tâche

Les Gaudichots

Marc

Montrachet

Richebourg

Romanée Conti

Romanee Saint Vivant

Vosne Romanée

Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault Blochet

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