2010 Echézeaux Grand Cru

It is always fascinating to settle in for a tasting with proprietor Mounir Saouma. With the exception of Jadot, I can't think of a single maison that draws across such a broad range of top vineyards. When taken together, the whites and reds provide insight to the performance of dozens of the finest sites in the region. Saouma is not much for comparisons when discussing 2010, saying quite simply, “2010 is 2010.” The vintage was not without some disappointments. Because of the miniscule yields, there is no 2010 Romanée St. Vivant or Richebourg. As always, these are some of the most unmanipulated wines being made in Burgundy. When I tasted the 2010s in November 2011, the wines had never been sulphured or racked. Saouma had just finished bottling his 2009s (a vintage many bottled on the early side) in October 2011!

"Two thousand ten has something unique for red Burgundy," said Mounir Saouma: "its combination of concentration from low yields and finesse. There weren't a lot of berries per cluster, so the grapes were well aerated. This saved us in 2010." Saouma added that the grapes ripened without rotting, and that with potential alcohols generally in the 13.5% range, no chaptalization was necessary. "The tannins and the acids are present in good quantities, but from the beginning we didn't really feel them. The wines were enjoyable to taste before the malos, and there's not a big difference in the feeling of the acidity afterwards. But the wines were primary and flashy early on, and by late summer they became deeper and more serious." Saouma does not think that the 2010s will shut down in bottle and he believes that they will last for a very long time.