2009 Echézeaux Grand Cru

Régis Forey began harvesting on September 13. His wines did a total of eight(!) weeks of cuvaison, by far the lengthiest vinifications of any grower I visited. Forey used 100% new oak for all of his 1ers and grands crus. The wines were bottled between December, 2010 and February, 2011 with no fining or filtration. These are unusually open, fruit-driven wines, even within the context of 2009. The grand crus are not necessarily better than some of the 1ers. I am not sure how well the wines will age, but in most cases they will certainly deliver considerable pleasure early on.

Forey describes his very ripe 2009s as round, fat, jammy and commercial, admitting that "they lack a little Burgundy pinot typicite." The crunchier, more stimulating 2008s here are far more classic. Forey harvested in '09 with grape sugars ranging from 13.6% to 14.5%, then did some of his longest fermentations ever, raising the temperatures in the cuves to 32o or 33oC "to get more depth and larger shoulders" in the wines. He carried out little in the way of pigeage, though. The malos finished by June but the wines had not yet been racked in November. Forey told me that he finds a big difference between the wines from Nuits and Vosne in 2009s, with the former generally round and jammy and the latter more taut and fresh. I found distinct surmaturite in a number of Forey's '09s, and wanted more minerality and floral lift.