Understanding Echézeaux plus 16 wines worth seeking out

Flagey-Echézeaux easily ranks among the most misunderstood communes of the Côte d’Or. While many wine lovers have heard Vosne-Romanée called ‘The Pearl of the Côte’, few recognise the importance of neighbouring Flagey-Echézeaux in the equation, despite its ability to produce spectacular wines.

65% of the vineyards in Flagey are classified as grand cru, while in Vosne, only 17% of the vineyards hold that classification.

Of the remaining vines in Flagey, 16% are premier cru and 19% are village, while the proportions in Vosne are 30% and 53%, respectively. And yet, one will never see Flagey on a label since the village and premier cru-level wines are sold as Vosne-Romanée. It seems that Flagey is doing a lot of the work, and Vosne is getting all the credit.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 16 enchanting Echézeaux

The commonly accepted explanation for this is that most vignerons owning vines in Flagey are based in Vosne. The truth, however, probably goes back further than this relatively recent fact. The village itself is squarely in the Saône Valley to the east of the old Roman road called the Via Agrippa, surrounded by fields, not by vines, and the centerpiece of the village’s coat of arms is a sheaf of wheat. In contrast, Vosne sits nestled into the vines themselves.

Monastic heritage

However, just west of the fields of Flagey lies the majestic Clos de Vougeot, patiently developed by the Cistercians over hundreds of years. On the far side of the walls of the Clos de Vougeot lie the twin grand crus of Flagey: Grands Echézeaux and Echézeaux.

Like those of the Clos de Vougeot, these vines were controlled by the monks of Cîteaux. According to Jean-François Bazin, however, these vines were worked by tenant farmers. By the Revolution, the monks had lost control of the vines, and they were not sold to the highest bidder.

Grands Echézeaux stands alone as a grand cru with a single lieu-dit. Echézeaux, however, is one of the grand crus in Burgundy composed of several different lieux-dits; in this case, there are eleven. The monks of the 18th century owned six, as detailed on the atlas compiled in 1720 by Dom Etienne Prinstet of the holdings of the Abbaye de Cîteaux.

The monks referred to Grands Echézeaux as Echézeaux Bas, and Echézeaux du Dessus as Echézeaux Hauts.

In addition to these vineyards, they owned the contiguous lieux-dits of Les Poulaillères, Les Champs Traversins, Les Rouges du Bas, Les Beaux Monts Bas and En Orveaux. These still form the nucleus of Echézeaux today, although it is worth noting that only parts of these last two monks’ vineyards are included in the current grand cru.

Later, five more lieux-dits were added to these ecclesiastical holdings, including Les Loächausses, Les Cruots (also known as Vignes Blanches), Clos Saint-Denis, Les Treux, and Les Quartiers de Nuits.

The terroir outlier

The geology and climate of Echézeaux differs from that of its neighbours because it is located at the mouth of the Combe d’Orveau. This dry valley is essentially a crack in the escarpment of the Côte d’Or. Although there is no river or stream flowing through it, waters once carried alluvial matter down to the flood plain of the Saône from a higher elevation, producing a significant alluvial fan in this location. The valley still helps carry cold air from the Hautes-Côtes to the base of the côte. The alluvial fan means that the soils drain quickly, the slope is gentler here, and the roots are farther from the underlying limestone. The combination of the cooling influence and effect of the alluvial fan makes this a complex and intriguing terroir.

A network of singular lieux-dits

Each of the eleven lieux-dits that forms Echézeaux today is distinctive. Some producers blend across parcels in different lieux-dits, while others own vines in only one. Sometimes the lieu-dit is indicated on the label, but often it is not. Echézeaux has a reputation, often deserved, as being uneven. Understanding where the holdings of the principal growers are located is one of the keys to finding the best wines. Echézeaux at its best can offer stupendous quality at a more reasonable price than many other grands crus.

At the centre of the appellation Les Echézeaux du Dessus measures just 3.55ha. This section is located just upslope from Grands Echézeaux. The largest owners are Domaine des Perdrix, owned by the Devillard family, and Mongeard-Mugneret. Other important owners include Jean-Marc Millot and Hoffmann-Jayer. This last domaine, based in the Hautes-Côtes, used to be called Jayer-Gilles; the wines made there for the Swiss owner by young winemaker Alexandre Vernet are worth discovering.

Up the slope from Les Poulaillères lies the 3.59 ha of Les Champs Traversins, named for the vines planted perpendicular to the slope to counteract erosion. The vines extend to the lowest of the trees at the top of the hill, and the largest owner is Domaine du Clos Frantin, owned by Albert Bichot. The second-largest owner is Domaine Dujac. Jacques Prieur and Domaine A.F. Gros also own vines in Les Champs Traversins, and a portion of the vines worked by Comte Liger-Belair are located here as well.

The 5ha portion of En Orveaux classified as Echézeaux grand cru is located on the border with Chambolle-Musigny, to the north of Les Poulaillèrees and Les Champs Traversins. These vines are planted across the slope as with neighboring Les Champs Traversins. Not all of En Orveaux is grand cru – the portion at the top of the slope is premier cru. The vines spill over into Chambolle, where it is classed as Combe d’Orveaux premier cru; even a bit is included in Musigny grand cru. The section located in Echézeaux stretches over both sides of the combe, creating a complex terroir where some vines face to the north and others east and even south-east. The vines belonging to the Domaine d’Eugenie (ex-René Engel) are located here, and the negociants Domaine Faiveley and Bouchard Père et Fils are also important proprietors.

On the other side of Les Champs Traversins lies the 4ha lieu-dit Les Rouges du Bas, up the slope from Echézeaux du Dessus. A prime example of this terroir is the delicious wine produced by Méo-Camuzet. Another example of a wine made purely from this lieu-dit comes from David Duband, who is based in the Hautes-Côtes, while the sisters at Mugneret-Gibourg blend their holding with their vines from Les Quartier de Nuits.

All of these vines were once the property of the monks of Cîteaux. The monks also owned Beaux Monts (Haut and Bas), but most of these are not included in the current appellation. However, in a historical twist of fate, a judge added two small bits of Beaux Monts Bas totalling 1.27ha to the appellation in 1984. These additions were next to a corner of Les Loächausses and a slice of Les Cruots; they were promoted (along with a bit of Les Quartier de Nuits) on the grounds that the grapes here had always been sold as Echézeaux.

The rest of the lieux-dits included in the modern appellation of Echézeaux were effectively included after a judge ruled in 1925 that these grapes had the right to the appellation. The court case came about because Etienne Camuzet, mayor of Vosne-Romanée, sued several prominent local families (including the Gros family) to prevent them from selling wine as Echézeaux that did not come from Echézeaux du Dessus. The growers, however, were able to prove to the judge that the grapes had always been sold as Echézeaux, and thus they were able to continue. When the laws establishing the Appellation d’Origine Côntrolée were finalised in 1937, these were all included.

The portion owned by the Gros family (which mostly remains in their hands today) consisted of Les Loächausses, a 2.49ha lieu-dit lying just south of Echézeaux du Dessus. Down the slope from Les Loächausses in Les Treux lies a further, almost 5ha of vineyards.

Today’s largest landowner in Les Treux is Mongeard-Mugneret, and the Jayer family have also historically been important proprietors, with land purchased from the Duvault-Blochet family. The vines owned by Lucien Jayer were located here, while those belonging to Georges Jayer (and vinified by his brother Henri) were a blend of Les Treux and Les Cruots. The vines of Lucien Jayer were farmed by his nephew Emmanuel Rouget after 1990; today, Emmanuel’s son Guillaume vinifies all the Jayer family holdings in Les Cruots and Les Treux.

The Jayer family has twice as much Les Treux as Les Cruots, yet Henri Jayer himself always had a strong preference for Les Cruots, which he believed surpassed even Echézeaux du Dessus in potential. The bottling under his label was reputedly made exclusively from Les Cruots, even though he made all the wine in the same cuverie. Les Cruots borders the Vosne-Romanée premier cru Les Suchots.

Just down the slope from Les Cruots lies the 1.8ha Clos Saint-Denis (quite different from the Clos Saint-Denis in Morey), where Rouget is the largest proprietor along with the Lamarche family and Domaine de la Romanée Conti.

The final piece of the Echézeaux puzzle is the 1.13ha Les Quartiers de Nuits. Much of this is owned by the heirs of Dr. Georges Mugneret, who ensured its promotion. However, Domaine des Perdrix also has nearly a quarter-hectare, and Amélie Berthaut has a parcel as well.

The mosaic pieced together from these eleven lieux-dits gives us a complex and fascinating picture. Although it is undoubtedly not of consistent quality, this appellation can offer superb value to the wine lover willing to dig beneath the surface.

See Charles’ tasting notes and scores for 16 fabulous Echézeaux

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