2018 Echézeaux Grand Cru

I visited Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair on one of Burgundy's many thoroughly miserable rainy and cold day. Fortunately there was Louis-Michel’s regulation red trousers to brighten everything up, plus of course, his 2018s. “There are two different kinds of wines, those that are fresh and picked early and those jammy and fruity that were picked later," he told me in typically candid fashion. "I don’t think the 2018s will need a long barrel ageing if you want to keep the fruit and the floral aspect of the wine, which is why I racked some wines earlier than expected. I started picking on 4 September. The 2018 vintage is pretty decent in terms of quantity at around 32hl/ha, which is just under 2017, which is useful since the 2019 vintage is short. The pH levels were good in 2018, between 3.5 and 3.7. I think there are unbalanced wines but less overripe wines that I think you might find in 2019 if you didn’t sort well. I used around 20% whole bunch on the clay premier crus to give more grip to the wines. 12.5-14% with Cras the highest, nothing really high." These 2018s are mostly very impressive with a question mark lingering over a couple of cuvées such as the Clos de Vougeot. The La Romanée is stunning although this comes with prohibitive prices, yet there are several Village and Premier Crus well worth seeking out.