1997 Echézeaux Grand Cru

Regis Forey, who has been steadily expanding his production in recent years both through purchases of vines and by means of rental arrangements (he made some Clos Vougeot and Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru in '99 en fermage), vinified his '98s and '99s in a new, more spacious facility on the other side of the Route Nationale. In '97, Forey picked early to protect acids, "but I waited for more ripeness in 1998, and I'm not sure this was a smart approach." Forey carried out a more extractive vinification in '98 (and in '99 too) than in '97, when the total cuvaison time was five or six days shorter, and less pigeage was done. The malolactic fermentations of the '98s finished just prior to the '99 harvest, and the wines had not yet been racked when I tasted them in November. Forey, who is much more careful today to protect his wines against oxidation during levage racked his '97s only prior to bottling, skipping the post-malo racking for the first time. He hoped to take the same approach with the '98s.

Regis Forey says he picked on the early side in 1997 because he was afraid of a disequilibrium between alcohol and matiere. Although grape sugars reached the 12.5%-12.7% range, none of the crus needed to be acidified. (In contrast, Forey says he harvested a bit too late in '98: sugars were even higher and more cuvees needed to be acidified.) "1997 should be flowery and aromatic," notes Forey, "without pronounced acid or hard tannins they're made to drink with pleasure after two or three years. It a balanced vintage without dilution," he adds, "better than '94, '92 and '91." Forey did a vendange verte in most of his crus in 1996, as well as a considerable amount of saignee although the '96s are closing down, Forey prefers them to his '95s, but maintains that "1993 is the best of all."