Wine Advisor
Emmanuel Rouget, Echezeaux Grand Cru 2008
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good full red. Deep, sappy aromas of kirsch, violet and minerals, with a medicinal cast. Sweet on entry, then taut and penetrating in the middle, with superb energy to the flavors of tangy, crunchy red fruits. At once dense and light on its feet, finishing with a saline nuance and lingering cherry flavor. This serious, structured wine really lifts the palate and stimulates the taste buds.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(made in 100% new barrels dried for a full three years; the Georges Jayer example comes from the identical parcel but was done in a 2006 barrel) Deep red. Red fruits, minerals and smoke on the nose; deeper than the Georges wine. Then sweeter and riper in the mouth, with more stuffing and depth and lovely Oriental spice perfume. In a much suppler, rounder style. Finishes persistent and aromatic, with a firm edge of tannins. (The penetrating Cros Parantoux showed a sexy, exotic crushed cherry and raspberry quality but was just starting its secondary fermentation.)
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
Candied cherry, marzipan, kirsch, and cinnamon on the nose of Rouget’s 2008 Echezeaux carry over into a palate at once obviously structured and sweetly ripe, with a steady flow of cherry and black raspberry as well as soothing glycerin (despite the wine’s modest – circa 13% – alcohol). Both smoked and roasted meat flavors lend depth, and this lingers with a terrific balance of freshness and sweetness, fine-grained tannin and glyceral richness. It deserves at least 4-5 years in bottle to develop almost inevitable further complexity and should be worth following for at least a dozen years. I tasted Emmanuel Rouget’s 2008s from barrel in April and he was planning to bottle them within a month. According to one of Rouget’s favorite descriptors, the vintage was “tres particulaire,” not to mention challenging. “I harvested at an average of 12%” potential alcohol, he reports, “and chaptalized less than a degree. That sufficed. It was more important to harvest while there was still good weather and besides, it was already cold. There was a lot of acidity, but that conveys a superb equilibrium and level of freshness. The wines really exhibit the plenitude of Pinot.” Rouget rejects what he acknowledges is a widespread comparison of 2008 with 1996, suggesting that the latter “was more marked by sunshine, and resulted in less-noticeable acidity.” (As noted in the introduction to this report, he compares 2008 with 1986.) Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400
About the Producer
Domaine Emmanuel Rouget, located in the village of Flagey-Echezeaux in the Cote de Nuits in Burgundy, France, was founded in 1985 and is a world-renowned winery. The history of Château Emmanuel Rouget can only be told by the famous winemaker Henri Jayer, the aunt of the owner Emmanuel Rouget. Already in the early 1980s, Henri was one of Burgundy's most legendary winemakers, influencing a younger generation of winemakers in Burgundy and indeed around the world. In 2001, Henri retired and Emmanuel took over all the vineyards under his name. Nicolas is responsible for the vineyards and Guillaume Rouget for the winery. Château Emmanuel Rouget is located in Vosne-Romanee, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru and Echezeaux Grand Cru, as well as in the villages of Cote de Nuits and Côtes du Nuit. Villages and Savigny-les-Beaune in the Cote de Beaune. The most famous vineyard is Cros Parantoux, created by Henri. In 1970, Henri bought his last parcel of land from Cros Parantoux, bringing the total size of his parcel to 0.72 hectares. Today, Emma Laure inherits the complete 0.72 hectares of vineyards. In terms of viticulture, Château Emmanuel Rouge has always adhered to a philosophy of respect for nature, using organic methods of cultivation and eliminating the use of any pesticides or weed killers. Emma Laure has inherited the winemaking methods of her aunt Henri. For example, the grapes are destemmed and fermented in concrete fermenters, as Henri did, and the resulting wine is then matured in oak barrels for 20 months or more before being bottled. The wines produced at Château Emaraur Rouge range from Regional to Grand Cru, with Pinot Noir as the main grape, but also Chardonnay, Carmenere and Aligote to a lesser extent. Many of the Premier Cru wines are of Grand Cru quality and are often hard to find because of their small quantity and quality. The wines from the Premier Cru Baranto are often sold at Sotheby's.
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