Once more medium, medium-plus colour. The nose is surprisingly subdued, powdery red fruits, but after 15 minutes still didn’t get going. On the palate reminiscent of how the Romanée Conti showed in London, understated but very pure. Despite wonderful depth, very reserved indeed. No La Tâche fireworks this time, but impeccably balanced and very long.
The colour is tending towards gold but I’d still describe it as medium lemon yellow. The nose is not obviously fruity, but shows amazing depth – you fall into a bottomless pit of butterscotch, fresh bread and faint vanilla. The nose really set me up for what I expected to be a very fat and powerful wine – I was only half right: the palate is neither fat nor in any way heavy. The very fine acidity carries the lace-like texture into an incredible finish – I had to go away and eat some bread as I could still taste this wine when I was supposed to be tasting the Échézeaux. An almost ethereal experience – I was truly impressed.
Lemon yellow, just a little deeper than the 2002. The nose is waxy with faint citrus and grapefruit plus the remnants of oak. The palate has the faintest element of harshness from oak, but it’s fading. Lovely minerality with the acidity giving a really penetrating finish. Less ready than the 2002, but this level of concentration will amply repay 5-10 years in the cellar. There’s now 12 in the cellar!
Less deep colour than the Romanée-St-Vivant – but marginally. The nose has a more black aspect to the fruit, subtle aspects from the stems and quite high toned. Doesn’t seem to develop in the glass to the same extent as the others, but there’s still some change with the oak spice becoming more pronounced and a little more meaty. The palate has really good depth and fat, similar to the RSV, the quality and fineness of the tannin shining through – more so than the previous wines. The finish is very long, but seems more oak than wine. Has the depth of the Grands Échézeaux but shows in a more backward way – lovely smooth coating on the teeth though. A wine that’s not all joined-up yet, oak, fruit and oak but not a ‘whole’ wine just yet.
Medium, medium-plus cherry red. Bright and intense nose of red and black cherry – shaded to red – with raspberry and subtle spice. The palate is sweet with very smooth tannin, nice concentration and just a little vanilla on the finish – a finish of 20-30 seconds. Smooth, understated and very drinkable – I’m surprised how easily this drinks. With time the impressive nose develops a little more spice. To put this wine firmly into context, after the La Tâche and Romanée-Conti, the nose is slightly less concentrated and certainly more diffuse. Still, there’s super length if less depth on the palate – in a word the wine is just ‘simpler’ than the top two, but nonetheless a very fine Échézeaux.
By a short-head this is the darkest wine on display – though still medium, medium-plus cherry red in colour. The nose is a melange of red fruits – mainly cherry – vanilla and a nice white pepper note. Instantly obvious is the extra fat and density of fruit when compared to the previous two wines. Again the tannins are super-smooth. Much more interesting length than the Grands Échézeaux. This wine really impresses – an appreciable step-up. Given extended time in the glass the nose becomes more focused on the red fruit and shows a touch of mocha. I seem to have written the least about this wine, but it is actually the most outstanding of the six – relative to their appellations of course.
In the tasting glass, this wine is a shade lighter in colour vs La Tâche, it’s also the only wine in the line-up to show some ruby colour. The nose starts with a blast of fruit and spice – very much like La Tâche – but closes down much faster. A quarter of an hour with the glass yields a few more floral notes, and then something a little green that morphs into a cedary pencil-lead note. The palate is very round, without the initial fireworks of the La Tâche, in fact it’s very understated. This is a wine that you could easily overlook after La Tâche and the RSV, but what sets it apart is the crystalline purity of fruit in the mid-palate and the faint but haunting finish. Very special
Again a medium, medium-plus cherry red colour. Where the Échézeaux was ‘broad’ in the nose, this is more focused though giving-up less. Higher toned with more maraschino cherry. The palate shows higher acidity and again, svelte, discrete tannin. The palate is also more focused and deep, though less ‘broad’ than the Échézeaux. There’s similar outstanding length, but to start with the wine doesn’t have the overall appeal of the Échézeaux. Slowly the nose starts to develop a wide, subtly spicy undertone (takes more than 10 minutes in the glass) which also starts to increase in depth. The palate is unchanging. I tried the second bottle and there was more obvious oak – though transient. This showed a little more depth than before and even a black edge to the fruit on the finish.
Deeply coloured for such a young wine, a shimmering gold. The nose has a creamy fruit-salad sense to it, almost brooding. The palate is a Charlemagne tour-de-force with it’s upfront burst of flavour and stunning concentration – it was a challenge to drink the second glass – but I persevered!. Keeping the wine in your mouth brings thoughts of a stream gushing over rock, but if you need a respite and try swallowing you’re in for a shock, it’s like opening the curtains and letting in the sun as the finish unfolds with deep, creamy waves. Best young Charlie I ever tried – as if I haven’t bought enough white wine already…
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