2017 DRC Grands Echezeaux

96 POINTS

Tim Atkin MW - Decanter

Showing more colour as well as more weight and intensity than the Échézeaux, as it often does, this is also a much more complete, harmonious wine with more flesh on its bones. Stony, stemmy and peppery, it handles its 100% whole bunches with style. A hint of good reduction and leafy, autumnal, forest floor aromatics segue into a palate that has fine-grained new oak, refreshing minerality and sweet, beguiling, wild strawberry fruit.

95 POINTS

Bruce Sanderson - Wine Spectator

The nose of the Grands Echézeaux is more expressive, revealing rose, cherry and strawberry, while in the mouth this is more concentrated than the Echézeaux, with a grainier texture that will require more time to reach its peak. Fine length (95 points, non-blind) (BS)

94 POINTS

William Kelley - Wine Advocate

More brooding and reserved than the Échézeaux that preceded it in the tasting, the 2017 Grands Échézeaux Grand Cru unwinds in the glass with an enticing bouquet of cassis, blackberries, blood orange, exotic spices and musk. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a more introverted, structured profile than the Échézeaux, its considerable reserves of concentrated fruit framed by an abundance of powdery tannin and succulent acids. Long and penetrating, this will reward sustained bottle age. The Grands Échézeaux was picked on September 12

94 POINTS

Neal Martin - Vinous

he 2017 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru was picked at 41hl/ha on September 12 and bottled on May 21 and 23, 2019. Given 10–15 minutes to open, it is clearly richer on the nose compared to its petit frère, revealing hints of kirsch, red currant and orange pith and subtle loamy aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, with suppler tannins than the Echézeaux and hints of wild mint, freshly rolled tobacco and a touch of spice toward the harmonious finish, which fans out effortlessly; it is perhaps less grippy than the 2015. This is an open “G.E.” since it can often be difficult to read just after bottling. It will give enormous pleasure over the next two decades. 1,290 cases produced. Tasted at Corney & Barrow’s annual in-bottle tasting in London. (NM