2006 Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils, Echezeaux Grand Cru 1x750ml

Robert Parker 90

Redolent of game and sweet floral perfume, the Bouchard 2006 Echezeaux comes to the palate with generous, red fruits mingling with underbrush, flowers, and game. This preserves a lip-smacking sense of primary juiciness, and vintage-typical buoyancy that is less common within the Cote de Nuits half of this particular collection. I would anticipate it’s being worth following for a half dozen years, perhaps longer. Director Philippe Prost emphasized the importance of flexible and surgical picking (with a crew numbering upwards of 300) and getting his crop to Bouchard’s battery of presses within two hours via a fleet of mini-vans. He insists that relatively little triage was necessary on the domaine vineyards (as opposed to those under contract) and the estate wines are certainly predictably stronger as a group. (I have generally mentioned in the notes that follow which wines are from Bouchard’s domaine and which from contract fruit, but have explicitly noted this as part of a wine’s description, only if there are two versions of the same appellation within the present portfolio.) The fruit was crushed very gently and the wines racked only once " at 10-14 months, than usual " explains Prost, in order to guard against exposed or drying tannins, a policy which my tastings suggest was generally successful. Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY; tel. (212) 605-6767 [David Schildknecht, 22/12/2009]

Anticipated maturity: 2009-2015

Vinous 91-93

Good deep red-ruby. Superripe aromas of redcurrant liqueur, blueberry, red licorice, spices, leather, earth and toast. Supple, sweet and fine-gained, with lovely minerality giving it a light touch. Very suave, long wine, finishing with smooth tannins, a strong flavor of dark berries and terrific lift. [Stephen Tanzer, 03/01/2008]