Echézeaux Grand Cru

Roasted lamb, rib-eye steak.

Located in "Champs Traversins", in the heart of the historic Echézeaux vineyard, the vines are planted in north/south rows at the end bordering on La Combe d'Orveau. Fairly thin brown soil. Very fine sany/siliceous gravel on the surface. Perfect microclimate: cool, well-ventilated, and healthy thanks to an air current. After an exceptionally mild winter, the vine quickly began to grow again and the first buds burst on March 25th. Thanks to a generous amount sunshine and high temperatures in the spring, the vineyard developed rapidly and the first flowers appeared on May 12th. Flowering was rapid and was completely finished by May 26th. The heat set in for the summer and the ripening started at the beginning of July. The heat waves at the end of July and midAugust, as well as the lack of water, did not slow down the ripening of the grapes, which, on the contrary, progressed very quickly. The harvest began at Domaine Jacques Prieur on August 20th with Pinot Noir grapes from the Côte de Beaune and ended on September 2nd, an unprecedented earliness. The grapes were perfectly healthy, with excellent ripeness and a high level of acidity, which can be explained by the concentration that occurred at the end of the ripening cycle under the influence of a warm wind coming from the south and high temperatures.

The wine was aged entirely in oak barrels. Duration of barrel ageing : 21 months

The grapes were handpicked into small crates, then sorted and totally destemmed. The wine stayed on the skins for 17 days in temperature-controlled open oak vats. Pigeage (punching down the cap) was done twice a day during alcoholic fermentation. 100% malolactic fermentation

For years Domaine Jacques Prieur was in a slow and seemingly terminal decline with quantity rather than quality being the byword. The guardian angel arrived in the form of Mercurey-based négociants Antonin Rodet in the late 1980s. Rodet's oenologist Nadine Gublin has been the driving force behind the renaissance in quality which now rivals the very finest producers on the Côte. The Domaine is today owned 70% by the Labruyère family and 30% by the Prieurs.The roots of the revival lie in the vineyards where fewer pesticides and herbicides are being used and come harvest time there is now a far more rigid selection of the best fruit. The results are a revelation. They have an exceptional range of grand cru vineyards – including the grandest of the grand such as Montrachet Musigny and Chambertin. But perhaps because the domaine’s holdings are dispersed up and down the Côte that it has not enjoyed the first rate reputation that one might have expected. The wines are certainly good but perhaps just short of the flair which would place them in the very top division. There is a conscious decision to pick relatively late and make flamboyantly full-bodied wines.