gros frère et soeur 98 grands-echézeaux

1.5.2015billn

I knew exactly what I was looking for, end even more surprising I found it straight away – well, almost! Except, it wasn’t what I expected. I was sure that this was the 1995, but no. Hmm, maybe I do have a 1995, somewhere, but clearly I wasn’t going to find it in 5 minutes! Okay, I really prefer 20 years on a wine like this, but hey, I decided that I was already committed!

What I do have in mind is that the vines were not long replanted at this time(?) if that was really the case, I have to say that this was a brilliant performance, indeed a performance of bravado!

WP_20150424_0021998 Gros Frère et Soeur, Grands-Echézeaux
Deeply coloured – clearly not young, but it already looks a wine of weight in the glass. Very aromatic – quite some impact to the nose too, a little spice, a little leaf and dark-red, slightly roast fruit edged with graphite and spice – though to be fair, it could be oak-spice rather than Vosne-spice! Large-scaled in the mouth, architectural but with enough padding to make the wine more than just interesting. Quite some weight of flavour again and complex in the mid-palate too – where tannin still swirls, but does not jar. Really a wine of character, still with a little oak in the finish, but really it’s one of those ‘who cares!’ wines. Excellent!
Rebuy – Yes

Agree? Disagree? Anything you'd like to add?

There are 3 responses to “gros frère et soeur 98 grands-echézeaux”

    • billn1st May 2015 at 9:09 pmPermalinkReply

      No I don’t Claude, but if it was, I think they were very early adopters – no(?)
      Who was the first that you know of, or better yet, when?
      Cheers

      • Claude Kolm2nd May 2015 at 6:38 amPermalinkReply

        Bill — The technique was being used in Bordeaux by the mid-1980s, where, along with malolactic in new barrels, it eventually became an essential part of the Parkerization technique.

        I don’t know who the first to use it in Burgundy or when, but it was well-known in Burgundy in the mid-1990s that Bernard Gros was using a reverse osmosis machine, and I have been told that Michel Gros has used it, too. The only time I visited Gros F&S was in the mid-1990s, but Bernard was not there. When I asked about the use of RO, the madame who was my host was clearly uncomfortable and became very evasive.

        The other estate that immediately comes to mind using RO at that time was Bertrand Ambroise, although there probably were others.

        By 1999, Rousseau did a little experiment with a barrel or two of Clos-de-Bèze. It tasted horrible — Charles agreed — and I suppose he wound up selling it off to a négociant. In 2000, Roumier did one of the parts of his Clos de la Bussière with RO. Christophe agreed that the result was pretty bad, but wound up assembling it with the other parts. I haven’t tasted the wine in several years, but when it was young, at least, it stood out when tasted side-by-side with other vintages of Clos de la Bussière (of course, in 2002, Christophe instituted other, positive, changes in the Clos de la Bussière and changed the character of the wine for the better, so post-2001s shouldn’t be used if anyone wants to make a comparison today).

        To my disappointment, by the early 2000s, every commune had approved use of RO except Gevrey-Chambertin. I presume it’s now been approved in Gevrey, as I know of some use of it there. It’s too bad, because to my taste, it distorts the quality of the fruit and the texture of the wine, although I do know of one producer exception (use for small part of some cuvées, not all) where the effect was not noticeable, and that, I guess, proves the rule.

        Mike — Thank you for the kind words.

        • billn2nd May 2015 at 9:19 amPermalink

          Appreciated Claude, thanks. I was aware that gfets had been using the techniquie, but I hadn’t realised it was quite so early. I’m hoping to visit so will ask all the requisite questions 😉

          As for this wine, a big wine but one of personality and no obvious issues…
          Bestest!
          Bill

        • Claude Kolm2nd May 2015 at 9:27 amPermalink

          And then there were the Gros F&S wines of the mid-1980s, but that’s another matter.

        • billn2nd May 2015 at 10:16 amPermalink

          Well, given their Schloss, it seems to me that it’s never been a commerial problem for them. I haven’t tasted many recent ones, but I always quite liked their CV Musigni in the 1990s if not so much many of their vosnes, funilly enough 07 was an exception and I quite liked the young Vosnes – maybe they’d dialled back a little…
          Let’s see….

  1. mike1st May 2015 at 9:21 pmPermalinkReply

    Very astute observation by Claude Kolm. He is well respected in wine circles and is equally a nice person. Enjoy reading your tasting adventures.

  2. Bruce29th June 2015 at 1:29 pmPermalinkReply

    Just found my way to this thread. May I ask a novice question? I was given a 1993 bottle of the Grand Eschézeaux, Domaine Gros Frère et Soeur. May I presume this is Grand Cru? Does anyone know where I can find tasting notes?

    • billn30th June 2015 at 6:53 pmPermalinkReply

      Hi Bruce
      Grands-Echézeaux is definitely a grand-cru vineyard
      Best
      Bill

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