Tasting Notes
Robert Parker 95
The 2012 Echezeaux Grand Cru , which comes from "Les Rouges de Bas" and "Les Quartiers de Nuits," has another extremely pure bouquet, quite sensual in style with crushed strawberry intermingling with raspberry, briar and even a touch of flint. The palate is fresh and sappy on the entry with fine acidity cutting through quite a dense carapace of red berry fruit. It gently builds toward a structured, marine-influenced finish that gently fans out. This will require three to five years in bottle. These are extremely fine and sophisticated. It is always a pleasure to return to one of my favorite growers in Burgundy. Tasting with Marie-Christine, she told me that they wait two or three months after the blending to allow the wine to settle. They push the wine using neutral gas (nitrogen) to obviate the use of pumps. "It is important to have a delicate bottling," she told me. "Bottling is the last moment that we can do something to the wine." The other nugget of information that she told me was that the first vintage of Ruchottes-Chambertin, the 1977, was not bottled because there was an inexplicable and undesirable smokiness in the wine. I was not moved to give the 2012 Ruchottes-Chambertin a perfect score on this occasion – I’m ruthlessly strict on bestowing "perfection" upon a wine. What is more important in my opinion, is that anyone lucky enough to have a bottle of this wine in their cellar, is in possession of an exquisite, beguiling Grand Cru. And let’s see how it unfolds in the future.
Anticipated maturity: 2019-2035
Vinous 93+
Moderately saturated medium red. Very ripe, slightly high-toned aromas and flavors of redcurrant, raspberry, tobacco, soy sauce and warm spices, with complementary sweet oak tones. Broad, dry and seamless; wonderfully fine-grained but a bit unforthcoming today flavor-wise. The longest of these 2012s to this point, finishing with serious ripe tannins and terrific verve.
Anticipated maturity: 2024-2037
