2013 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru

Domaine d’Eugénie is about to undertake major changes. Firstly, this was the last vintage overseen by Michel Mallard, who will henceforth focus on his namesake Domaine in Ladoix as his father retires. I will continue to follow his wines as I have done for many years. In his place will be Korean-born winemaker Jae Chu, who joined us for the tasting and suffered my sense of humor.

“I arrived in Dijon in 2008,” she explains. “I was a trainee at d’Eugénie for two years in 2009 and continued to study at Dijon University. From 2019, I was in charge of Chateau Grillet for five vintages and…now I have returned.”

I look forward to tasting with Chu in years to come. In the meantime…2023.

“We had a good flowering,” Mallard tells me. “There was a first wave of heat in July where some of the Meursault was affected by hail. July and August were a bit cool, then from mid-August to mid-September there was heat, with 45mm of rain. This concentrated the fruit. Two green harvests were conducted during the summer months. We started the picking on August 31 with the whites, the reds beginning on September 1 and finishing on the September 9. We had to adapt the picking, harvesting earlier in the morning and cooling the fruit in a truck. This was sorted the following day. We had to sort a lot because of rot and acid rot. Yields were 40 hl/ha when they are usually around 30 hl/ha. I would have vinified using 80% stems for the Vosne Brûlées, but in the end, I used 50% as there was too much rot. But there are 100% stems used for the Chambertin.”

Chambertin? Yes, the range will expand here as they will vinify the Côte de Nuits vineyards previously part of Bouchard Père & Fils (see separate Producer Profile for further information). I tasted through the entire range, which includes the Bonnes-Mares and Chambertin, as well as the whites made in quantities that barely fill a thimble.

As usual, I tasted at Domaine d’Eugénie with winemaker Michel Mallard (see Ladoix). Having been bought by Artémis Domaines after the untimely death of Philippe Engel in 2005, a new chapter is about to unfold as the domaine incorporates Bouchard Pères’ holdings in the Côte de Nuits. As I quipped to Malland: You’re gonna need a bigger winery. “We started picking on August 26 and finished September 1,” he tells me on a very damp Thursday afternoon. “Sulfur is only added in barrel just after malo and just before bottling.” I have to be honest… I have written positive words about Domaine d’Eugénie in previous vintages, but I was perplexed by the showing of the 2022 reds. The tannins felt raw, and the whole bunches dictated the wines, usurping the fruit/terroir profiles. Mallard admitted they were not showing as they should, especially one or two cuvées, and invited me to return since he was convinced the wines showed better a couple of days earlier. When you’re working every day from dusk until dawn, it’s not easy to simply return. God forbid, I can imagine every winemaker asking the same whenever they’re dissatisfied with their wines’ showing. It happens. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s Nature.

“It was a strange season with the frost and the snow in April when it went down to -5° Celsius,” winemaker Michel Mallard explains. “For the reds, we protected just the Grand Cru reds with 450 candles per hectare. We had the manpower and stock to do this, and they were effective. For the Premier Crus, we had a lot of damage in Brûlées where caterpillars ate the destroyed buds. So we only produced two barrels in the end, whereas in 2022 we will have nine. Afterward, it was cool and wet with some coulure, fresh and humid throughout the summer. We started picking on 17 September with Clos d’Eugénie, entering the vineyard twice before picking to homogenise the ripeness of the reds and take care of botrytis. We found a lot of oïdium and botrytis in Echézeaux. We used 40 people to pick, and it took nine hours for 0.9 hectares.” There has been a distinct uptick in quality at Domaine d’Eugénie in recent years, as if the wines have found their groove. They sport silky veneers and exude purity, whereas in the past, they felt just a bit…manufactured…nowadays, they possess natural charm and beguiling complexities.

As usual, I tasted at Domaine d’Eugénie with winemaker Michel Mallard (see Ladoix). Having been bought by Artémis Domaines after the untimely death of Philippe Engel in 2005, a new chapter is about to unfold as the domaine incorporates Bouchard Pères’ holdings in the Côte de Nuits. As I quipped to Malland: You’re gonna need a bigger winery. “We started picking on August 26 and finished September 1,” he tells me on a very damp Thursday afternoon. “Sulfur is only added in barrel just after malo and just before bottling.” I have to be honest… I have written positive words about Domaine d’Eugénie in previous vintages, but I was perplexed by the showing of the 2022 reds. The tannins felt raw, and the whole bunches dictated the wines, usurping the fruit/terroir profiles. Mallard admitted they were not showing as they should, especially one or two cuvées, and invited me to return since he was convinced the wines showed better a couple of days earlier. When you’re working every day from dusk until dawn, it’s not easy to simply return. God forbid, I can imagine every winemaker asking the same whenever they’re dissatisfied with their wines’ showing. It happens. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s Nature.

Michel Mallard must consider himself the luckiest winemaker in Burgundy because he gets to see me twice each year, once at his family domaine in Ladoix and the second here at Domaine d’Eugénie. “We started the harvest on 9 September although the whites were picked earlier. I used slightly more whole bunches on the 2019. For the first time we plunged by hand, though not much as the tannic structure came quickly and when we pumped over we just used gravity. We did not use pumps at all. The Clos d’Eugénie will be bottled in January whilst the others will be racked in February and bottled a couple of months later. I think we have more finesse in the 2019s than in 2018s. We have more red fruit in 2019 and just a little greenness that brings the wines freshness. There are two appellations that gained something in 2019 - Aux Brûlées and Echézeaux.”

Mallard has really begun to put his own stamp on these wines that are far more finessed and terroir-driven than those produced when the domaine debuted with their 2006s. Case in point, the Grands-Echézeaux was one of the finest that I encountered, a splendid and regal wine with haunting complexity. In fact, all the Grand Crus deliver, which is a good job since that represents more or less half the portfolio.

“It was a strange season with the frost and the snow in April when it went down to -5° Celsius,” winemaker Michel Mallard explains. “For the reds, we protected just the Grand Cru reds with 450 candles per hectare. We had the manpower and stock to do this, and they were effective. For the Premier Crus, we had a lot of damage in Brûlées where caterpillars ate the destroyed buds. So we only produced two barrels in the end, whereas in 2022 we will have nine. Afterward, it was cool and wet with some coulure, fresh and humid throughout the summer. We started picking on 17 September with Clos d’Eugénie, entering the vineyard twice before picking to homogenise the ripeness of the reds and take care of botrytis. We found a lot of oïdium and botrytis in Echézeaux. We used 40 people to pick, and it took nine hours for 0.9 hectares.” There has been a distinct uptick in quality at Domaine d’Eugénie in recent years, as if the wines have found their groove. They sport silky veneers and exude purity, whereas in the past, they felt just a bit…manufactured…nowadays, they possess natural charm and beguiling complexities.

As usual, winemaker Michel Mallard guided me through the latest releases from Domaine d’Eugénie, though this time he was joined by Frédéric Engerer, who heads up the properties under François Pinault’s Artemis Group. "We went twice in the vineyard," Mallard told me. "We did some green harvest in July and then three weeks before picking as there were some vines with 13 and 14 bunches. There were berries that were pink and green, so we eradicated these too. We started the picking on 2 September and finished on 9 September. The maximum alcohol is on Clos Vougeot 13.7%. We continue to use no SO2 during the alcoholic fermentation." These wines are now beginning to really show that intangible known as "soul" and these 2018s are some of the best that I have encountered from d’Eugénie since it rose from Domaine Engel back in the mid-noughties. Part of the reason is Mallard’s judicious use of whole bunch. There was some discussion between Mallard and Engerer about exactly how much is optimal (of course, it is an alien concept back at Latour) although I opined that I think Mallard got it just right. These 2018s show more character and intellect that those I was tasted a few years ago and are worth seeking out.

Michel Mallard has overseen the wines at Domaine d’Eugénie since 2006, after François Pinault bought Domaine René Engel following the untimely passing of Philippe Engel. After a tricky start, when the wines were over-oaked and lacked the essence of pinoté, there is now a more hands-off approach in the winery. “We took off some bunches in July as the vines were compensating for being frosted in 2016,” Mallard explained. “We did two green harvests, one in July and one in late August after coming back from holiday. It meant you could take out any damaged and grilled berries the second time. We started the harvest on September 2 and vinified without sulphur, which was only added after the malolactic [as Mallard did last year.] One difference this year is that I filled the barrels from the bottom instead of the top because I felt the wines were delicate and I wanted to reduce their exposure to air. I will rack the wines in January or February.”

Hence, for the first time, instead of tasting directly from barrel, I tasted the 2017s from prepared samples. I usually propose the Grands-Echézeaux as the pick of the bunch, but this year I am smitten by the excellent Clos de Vougeot, whilst the Vosne-Romanée Aux Brûlées matches the Echézeaux pound for pound. There is a rather modern sheen to these wines, which I know puts off the devotees of Philippe Engel’s more rustic but often profound style of wine. These tend to be a little darker in fruit and a touch more confit. Yet I do feel that they are much better than even five or six years ago when, for want of a better expression, they just seemed to lack soul.

Michel Mallard vinified the estate’s Grands-Echézeaux in 2015 without adding sulfur and liked the results of this experiment (“the aromas gained in precision”) so much that he took the same approach with all of the 2016s at this address. “Still,” he told me in November, “it was frightening to have wines with no protection—and especially tricky to make some wines with 60% whole clusters and not add sulfur” [until after the malolactic fermentations]. The estate made just two barrels of Echézeaux in ’16 from its 0.5-hectare holding and the frost destroyed 60% of the buds in Grands-Echézeaux and Clos Vougeot. The harvest took place between September 23 and 29, with grape sugars ranging from 12.5% to 13%. “Only a few cuvées were chaptalized to make certain that they would finish with 13% alcohol,” said Mallard.

Mallard likes the young 2016s for their airy aromatics, sappy freshness, precision and tension; he wondered out loud if the vintage would prove to be his best yet at Domaine d’Eugénie. He carried out his normal extraction, which includes five or six days of pre-fermentation cold soak without sulfur, as well as four to seven days of post-fermentation maceration. The 2016s, says Mallard, "are sappy and youthfully compact, and they have more energy than the ‘15s." The earlier vintage, he added, is higher in alcohol “but still shows good energy considering that one has the impression of a sunny year.” He's not sure if the '15s will ever close down but notes that they need a decanting--and should be served a bit cooler than "usual vintages."

Michel Mallard vinified the estate’s Grands-Echézeaux in 2015 without adding sulfur and liked the results of this experiment (“the aromas gained in precision”) so much that he took the same approach with all of the 2016s at this address. “Still,” he told me in November, “it was frightening to have wines with no protection—and especially tricky to make some wines with 60% whole clusters and not add sulfur” [until after the malolactic fermentations]. The estate made just two barrels of Echézeaux in ’16 from its 0.5-hectare holding and the frost destroyed 60% of the buds in Grands-Echézeaux and Clos Vougeot. The harvest took place between September 23 and 29, with grape sugars ranging from 12.5% to 13%. “Only a few cuvées were chaptalized to make certain that they would finish with 13% alcohol,” said Mallard.

Mallard likes the young 2016s for their airy aromatics, sappy freshness, precision and tension; he wondered out loud if the vintage would prove to be his best yet at Domaine d’Eugénie. He carried out his normal extraction, which includes five or six days of pre-fermentation cold soak without sulfur, as well as four to seven days of post-fermentation maceration. The 2016s, says Mallard, "are sappy and youthfully compact, and they have more energy than the ‘15s." The earlier vintage, he added, is higher in alcohol “but still shows good energy considering that one has the impression of a sunny year.” He's not sure if the '15s will ever close down but notes that they need a decanting--and should be served a bit cooler than "usual vintages."

Two thousand fifteen does not have the surmaturité of 2009 but it’s still un millésime solaire,” said winemaker Michel Mallard in December, adding that the young 2016s are demonstrating even more aromatic intensity at the same stage of development than the ‘15s. The estate brought in its Clos Vougeot in 2015 with a high 13.6% potential alcohol, and the Echézeaux and Grands-Echézeaux were just a shade lower at 13.4%. Mallard carried out a 12-day cold maceration at about 12 degrees C., then two did punchdowns per day during the early stages of fermentation. The pHs in 2015 are a slightly elevated 3.6, due in part to the higher percentage of whole-cluster fermentation—50% for all of the crus. This promises to be Domaine d’Eugénie’s finest vintage to date, and the wines have the structure for long aging.

The high quality and essential harmoniousness of Domaine d’Eugénie is particularly remarkable considering how much sorting of the fruit was necessary in the vineyards In addition to their normal green harvest at the end of July, the estate did a major pass through the vines in early September to eliminate grapes affected by rot, hail and the Drosophila suzukii, as well as berries that had been burned by the sun during a heat spike in mid-July Winemaker Michel Mallard told me that the finished 2014s remind him of his 2011s “They’re expressive, fresh and mouthwatering wines,” he said The bottling took place between December of 2015 and May of 2016

The high quality and essential harmoniousness of Domaine d’Eugénie is particularly remarkable considering how much sorting of the fruit was necessary in the vineyards. In addition to their normal green harvest at the end of July, the estate did a major pass through the vines in early September to eliminate grapes affected by rot, hail and the Drosophila suzukii, as well as berries that had been burned by the sun during a heat spike in mid-July. Winemaker Michel Mallard told me that the finished 2014s remind him of his 2011s. “They’re expressive, fresh and mouthwatering wines,” he said. The bottling took place between December of 2015 and May of 2016.

Winemaker Michel Mallard noted that the worst problem with the 2014s is that “they’re not well-placed between the more ageworthy 2013s and the very rich, promising 2015s. ” But the ’14s, he noted, “are precise and easy to digest and show clear terroir character and very good freshness. ” Domaine d’Eugénie carried out a huge triage, said Mallard, including a green harvest and another pass through the vines at the beginning of September to eliminate fruit affected by the flies, “especially near the woods. ”

With the exception of the basic village offering, Mallard vinified all of the 2014s with at least one-third whole clusters, "for aromatic complexity and to maintain a firm framework." Interestingly, he used the same proportion of whole clusters in 2015, but in this case "to maintain freshness in a very ripe year." All of the 2014s were still in barrel in December, except for the basic village Vosne, which was in tank being prepared for bottling. The rest of the '14s will be bottled in March and April.

Winemaker Michel Mallard was not the only one who described his 2013 reds as "like an easier version of 2010." In fact, I got the impression that he prefered the newer set of wines. He went on: "The 2013s are condensed and sappy, very pinot: precise, elegant, fine. And the 2012s are more accessible right now than the 2013s: they may be for drinking before and after the '13s." Domaine D'Eugénie harvested between October 2 and 8, picking less than one hectare per day, and doing a last triage in the winery after eliminating dried and underripe grapes in the vines. Potential alcohol levels were between 11.8% and 12.4% and the grand crus will eventually be bottled at close to 13%. With the exception of the basic village cuvée, all of these wines were vinified with one-third whole clusters. The malolactic fermentations finished here by the end of May but, except for the basic Vosne-Romanée, the wines had not been racked at the time of my early November visit.

Winemaker Michel Mallard finds this estate's 2012s more accessible at present than the 2013s. "They're not as sappy or condensed, so they will probably offer earlier drinking," he told me, "but perhaps they will also last longer than the '13s." I found them more sensual in the early going than the '13s but wondered if they will retain their underlying precision once once they've had a chance to lose some of their baby fat.

According to winemaker Michel Mallard, 2012 does not show quite the purity of 2010 but the wines are more concentrated than those of 2011, not to mention more structured. The use of whole-cluster fermentation has now stabilized at about one-third for the crus, and vinification continues rather extractive: the estate carried out a ten-day cold maceration in 2012, with three punchdowns per day during the fermentation followed by a week of post-fermentation maceration "with only gentle remontage." The 2012s, Mallard told me in November, are characterized by very dark fruits, especially blueberry, while the 2011s, which he believes are starting to shut down in bottle, are more about spices and flowers. (Sherbrooke Cellars, www.sherbrookecellars.com; Craft+Estate/The Vintner Group, www.craftandestate.com)

The key to the quality of the 2011s here was a "huge selection," said winemaker Michel Mallard."We spent six days harvesting [beginning on September 3] rather than a normal four due to strict and time-consuming triage," he said.Mallard is now vinifying most of his cuvees with a percentage of whole clusters as he likes the influence of the stems.Following a pre-fermentation maceration lasting six to eight days, he carries out "a lot of pigeages" during the first week, then switches mostly to remontage, although he may do further punchdowns "according to taste."Mallard describes the 2011s as "wines of elegance and finesse, but without quite the purity of 2010."At the same time, though, there has been a steady evolution of technique here and the 2011s showed very well in November.The wines will not be racked until the pre-bottling assemblage.As of vintage 2011, this domain is farming entirely according to biodynamic principles.

Quantities were down 30% to 50% in 2010, said winemaker Michel Mallard, who told me that the crop was picked in four days beginning on September 25. The 2010s look to be the finest set of wines to date from this domain, which is 100% organic as of 2011. Recent vintages here have become increasingly pliant and sensual . . . more Burgundian.

Beginning with 2009, there will be a new wine, the Clos d'Eugenie, made from vines around the new winery in Vosne-Romanee, for which the owners traded their old Maizieres village holding to the Bichots. Director Frederic Engerer has also decided to declassify the bottom part of Vosne-Romanee Aux Brulees in the estate's village Vosne parcel owing to its richer soil, while keeping the much better chalkier, rockier top part, which is close to Echezeaux and Grands-Echezeaux, for the premier cru bottling. The harvest here in 2009 was carried out between September 14 and 17, with potential alcohols ranging from 13% to 13.7%. Winemaker Michel Mallard describes the 2009s as "very expressive, textured and aromatic: strangely approachable. One feels the alcohol more than the acidity." The plan was to bottle these wines earlier than usual, before the winter, for fear that they might lose more acidity. Mallard was one of several winemakers to mention the effect of the deluge on July 13/14 (about 120 millimeters of rain fell in Vosne-Romanee). "It increased the amount of juice in the grapes and ultimately resulted in silkier, more aromatic wines with less tension."

This estate has moved into a spacious new facility in Vosne-Romanee, close to its vine holdings. The 2007s and 2008s were racked only for the assemblage prior to the bottling. Incidentally, Domaine d'Eugenie exchanged its old Maizieres village holding with the Bichots for the land around the new winery, which they will call Clos d'Eugenie. Although these vines, located just below La Tache, were never bottled separately by the Bichots, Domaine d'Eugenie director Frederic Engerer (who is also estate manager of Chateau Latour) considers the parcel to be very promising. Along with the Brulees, it was farmed organically beginning in 2009, and it was also vinified separately in '09, with the hope that it would be bottled on its own as well.

This estate has moved into a spacious new facility in Vosne-Romanee, close to its vine holdings. The 2007s and 2008s were racked only for the assemblage prior to the bottling. Incidentally, Domaine d'Eugenie exchanged its old Maizieres village holding with the Bichots for the land around the new winery, which they will call Clos d'Eugenie. Although these vines, located just below La Tache, were never bottled separately by the Bichots, Domaine d'Eugenie director Frederic Engerer (who is also estate manager of Chateau Latour) considers the parcel to be very promising. Along with the Brulees, it was farmed organically beginning in 2009, and it was also vinified separately in '09, with the hope that it would be bottled on its own as well.

Francois Pinault, who also owns Chateau Latour, purchased what was formerly Domaine Rene Engel before the harvest of 2006 but it was not until 2007 that the new team was able to work the vines and make the wines. Pinault installed Frederic Engerer, the perfectionist estate manager at Latour and a not-so-secret Burgundy lover for many years, and Engerer brought in the local Michel Mallard as technical director. I tasted the 2006s from barrel in November of '07 and found them to be rather hard-edged, with the exception of the Grands-Echezeaux; the finished wines are intense, muscular and austere, with somewhat rigid textures that strike me as more Bordeaux than Burgundy. Two thousand seven gives a much better idea of the new team's talents. The crop level was kept low, and the estate-wide production was less than 29 hectoliters per hectare. The harvest took place between September 4 and 9; Engerer noted that the sugars went up early but that real phenolic maturity only arrived at the end. Engerer, always candid about what he could have done differently, told me that the percentage of new oak is a bit higher than he would have liked (the grand crus are aging in "all new barrels minus one"), as he and Mallard overestimated the size of the crop and thus purchased too many new barrels. And he's also eager to move to the new winemaking facility being built in Vosne-Romanee; the first three vintages were made in the large Lupe-Cholet cellar in Nuits-Saint-Georges. I found the 2007s here to be very promising and was fascinated by the Clos Vougeot, half of which was vinified with whole clusters.