Wine Advisor
Georges Noellat, Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru 2018
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Grands-Echézeaux Grand Cru is consistent with my notes from barrel. On the nose, it offers dark berry fruit, a little earthiness at first giving way to black truffle and sous-bois. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins on the entry, good grip and a sturdy finish that will require bottle age. [Postscript: returning to the bottle the following evening, it has blossomed into a sublime Grands Echézeaux, the sturdiness disappearing and the wine attaining a sumptuous texture.]
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru is matured entirely in new oak and is completely de-stemmed. This is one cru that shows a little <em>sur-maturité</em> on the nose, perhaps some VA that nags away. The palate is sweet and candied on the entry. A sucrous Grands Echézeaux with a sweet, almost confit-like finish. I can’t help thinking that some stems would have reined in this over-exuberant grand vin.
About the Producer
Maxime Cheurlin, who succeeded his fifth-generation grandmother Marie Therese, daughter of Georges Noëllat, has always been close to the Jayer family throughout the family's history, and Maxime Cheurlin and Rouget are cousins. This is evident from the fact that Maxime Cheurlin and Rouget were cousins. 2010 is the first vintage for the young owner, Maxime Cheurlin. In the past, the winery had signed 20-year grape contracts with Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin and others to sell its own grapes to wine merchants. Due to family ties, some of the high quality grapes were sold to Leroy and Rouget. With the expiry of the lease, Georges Noëllat will now be able to use the grapes it used to supply to these highly rated wine merchants for its own products, and it is certain that Georges Noëllat's production and quality will increase year on year. The relationship between Maxime Cheurlin and Guillaume Rouget, who helped his father Emmanuel Rouget with his winemaking studies, has also helped the winery to improve its winemaking skills. Before taking over the winery, he worked and studied at Rouget's winery and at Gros Frère et Soeur. Harvesting is done by hand, de-stemming and cold maceration. The fermentation is carried out with a gentle extraction of the skins to avoid over-pressing. It is not clarified or filtered before bottling. The style is full of black and red berry impressions of raspberries, red currants and black currants. Sweet and sour fruit flavours, with a round and full tannin texture. When mature, the terroir of dead leaves, mushrooms, earth, leather and spices is evident. In response to the rising global temperatures of recent years, Maxime has air-conditioned the cellar in order to slow down the rate and rhythm of lactic acid fermentation and to give the wine a fuller colour and a more precise and complex flavour profile. As one of the most famous new winemakers in Bourgogne in recent years, Maxime Cheurlin has shaken up the wine world with one great wine after another, and with wines that make the most of the character of each vintage! With so much demand and so many people wanting to get their hands on his wines, Maxime Cheurlin has set up a micro-winemaker business (Maxime Cheurlin-Noëllat) to make wines from the best plots he has in mind, as well as the more accessible ones, in order to satisfy the high demand for Georges Noellat. This shows the popularity of this talented winemaker. Under Maxime Cheurlin, Georges Noëllat displays an unexpected balance, a penetrating terroir, silky tannins and an impressive style of ripe fruit. Maxime has been recognised as one of the hottest new generation of star winemakers in Bourgogne.
