2022 Echézeaux Grand Cru

In the year 2060, I’d like to think that someone will ask the proprietor of Domaine Grivot if they remember their first tasting, and they will answer that they don’t because they were one month old, but according to his mother Mathilde Grivot, wine critic Neal Martin was there. That person will then reply: “Who?” But yes, Etienne Grivot was joined by his daughter, Mathilde, who took over the running of the estate with her brother as the baby snoozed away, my tasting interrupted by the occasional gurgle of burp. It meant that Etienne Grivot had to run around the cellar pouring their 2022s.

“We decided to wait until September 6 to pick,” he tells me, about a week later than many of his peers - unsurprising to those who know Grivot’s approach. “The mistake was to pursue higher volumes to make up for previous small vintages. Some winemakers decided to pick everything. It was important to do a small green harvest two or three weeks before that harvest. Some producers picked from August 25, and I don’t really understand this, even if each vineyard is different. But we are happy with the growing season as more wine is on the market. I don’t think it’s a great vintage with great aging potential, the wines will be easy to drink for 15 to 20 years, with nice harmony and suave tannins. There will be 25% to 30% new oak in most of the blends, barrels from four cooperages. My favorite is Chassin. We rack them into tank just before Christmas, and it is easier to stop and start according to the lunar cycle without recourse to filtration. We will bottle according to the moon starting at the end of February and then end of March/beginning of April.”

It was interesting how Etienne Grivot was less enthused by the 2022s than other winemakers. I may be more positive. Certainly, he cannot understand growers who have already bottled their 2022s and feels that they are throwing away potentially great wines. He is adamant that they need that second winter of élevage. Of course, winemakers’ hands are occasionally forced because of the lack of space in the wineries and the need to free up empty barrels for the next intake. I tasted the wines from second-fill barrels, so I had to conjecture the inclusion of new oak in blends. In keeping with Grivot’s style, these are more fruit-forward and richer wines, which is no surprise given the later picking. I have a lingering doubt about the Nuits Saint-Georges Aux Boudots, which includes the first picking from newly-planted vines, a nagging greenness jutting out at the end. I much preferred the Les Roncières. The cluster of wines from around Vosne is exemplary, particularly in Aux Brûlées and Les Beaux Monts, which showed more breeding than the Les Suchots or Aux Reignots.