Joseph Drouhin, Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru 2016

vinous96

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2016 Grands-Echézeaux Grand Cru has a similar nose to Tremblay’s Echézeaux tasted alongside. Raspberry and crushed strawberry at first, autumn leaves and attractive wilted rose petal aromas following suit. Fine delineation and nicely integrated oak. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy ripe red berry fruit, fine tannin, plenty of spice and a subtle garrigues-like/Provençal note towards the harmonious finish. Excellent. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.

vinous92

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

(just a single 350-liter barrel made in 2016; Drouhin can make six pièces in a good year, according to winemaker Faure-Brac): Healthy dark red. Much more interesting on the nose than the Clos Vougeot, with aromas of raspberry, flowers, spices and medicinal menthol joined by riper notes of chocolate and mirabelle. Plush, ripe and sweet on the attack, offering a refined texture but suggesting a wide range of ripeness with its notes of prune, spices, mint and menthol. Finishes with serious, late-arriving tannins and a saline mineral quality that piques the taste buds. Still a bit disjointed, this wine will need patience to take its ultimate shape.

robert_parker92

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2016 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru has a refined bouquet with blackberry, blueberry, woodland and spice box aromas—quite complex and very focused, growing in stature in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin. The oak comes through rather too strongly on the finish, and I hope this is assimilated by the time it is bottled. I did inquire and was told that it was matured in a single 350-liter barrel that was one year old, so maybe it was just one of those days?

james_suckling96

Reviewed by: James Suckling

A classic-styled Echezeaux with smoke, dried strawberries and spices. Flowers, too. Full body, dusty tannins and firm, polished and textured finish. Needs four or five years to open but a beautiful wine to taste now.