2017 Echézeaux Grand Cru

Mugneret-Gibourg is always one of the visits I anticipate the most. I have been visiting here for over 20 years and the sisters, Marie-Christine and Marie-Andrée are as friendly as they have always been. “We had a normal production around 29-30hl/ha on average," Marie-Christine told me in their newly renovated cellars. "The harvest began on 5 September and picked over five days. The weather was nice during harvest. All the wine are de-stemmed except for the Echézeaux. We had to add some stems in 2016 to make up for the small volume and it seemed to work, so we used the same percentage for subsequent vintages. We might include some stems in the future for other appellations, but not too much. The alcohol levels are between 13.8% and 14.3%. It was a new thing for us with higher levels of alcohol and I was a little scared finishing a couple of the fermentations that were a bit slow. But it taught us a lot and that helped us to vinify in 2019. The wines were racked at the beginning of July."

Readers will already be aware of my appreciation of Mugneret-Gibourg, following my write-up of a Ruchottes-Chambertin vertical earlier this year. Returning to the domaine, I was met by Marie-Christine Teillaud, who showed me the work being undertaken behind the family house in Vosne-Romanée, where a new garden is taking shape. What lies underneath is more important. Finally, the winery has a new barrel cellar annexed onto the original one. I feared that the famous cast iron mantelpiece bedecked with ancient bottles crusted in block mold was gone. “Not at all,” Marie-Christine assured me. “When we did the design for the new cellar, we made sure there was a space where we could move the mantelpiece. The bottles are arranged exactly as they were.” Phew.

“Two thousand and seventeen is the first vinification for my daughter Lucie,” she continued, Lucie appearing at the end of our tasting. “It was the perfect vintage to learn. In terms of quality and maturity, it was a very classic Burgundy vintage. We harvested from September 4 to keep the freshness, and only four domaines in Vosne-Romanée began on that date. Others picked later, but we did not want too much maturity. All the wines have good levels of sugar, around 12.5° to 13.0°, with good acidity, and the tannins are ripe. Everything is de-stemmed as usual. The vinification was natural, with no enzymes. Malolactic began in November and finished in February. However, we waited until July to rack so that we could put the barrels into the new cellar. The wines will be bottled without fining and filtration.”

I advise readers to peruse the tasting notes for more detailed information on some subtle changes in the cuvées. The standout for me this year is not the Ruchottes-Chambertin but the Clos de Vougeot, perhaps the best that I encountered from the walled vineyard on my travels, where too often I found it underperformed. There is high quality throughout the range. No, as a collective they probably do not match 2015 or 2016; these wines are more approachable and with less stuffing. Yet they are all beautifully balanced, with wonderful terroir expression, the three Grand Crus all evincing an ability to age.