2014 Echézeaux Grand Cru

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.