2014 Echézeaux Grand Cru

Philippe Charlopin’s 2014s were without question the darkest set of wines I tasted from this vintage; some of them looked more like Syrah than Pinot Noir. But the best of them display penetrating Pinot minerality. Charlopin, who exploits 25 hectares of vines of which he owns 15, started harvesting on September 15, with grape sugars between 11. 5% and 12%, and chaptalized up to a full degree. Yields ranged from 40 to 50 hectoliters per hectare. Charlopin describes the vintage as “un style gourmand, best for drinking between five and ten years from now. ” But the wines, he added, have been getting more powerful during élevage.

The '14s were still in barrels when I tasted them in December; they had been sulfured a month before my visit. Charlopin planned to rack them in February and bottle in late March. Incidentally, Charlopin now ages his grand crus in 40% to 50% new oak; as recently as 2006, these wines were aged in 100% new barrels.