2005 Echezeaux
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Tasting notes
Saturated medium ruby. Highly perfumed and pure aromas and flavors of black cherry, blackberry and violet. Silky on entry, then dense and thick without being at all heavy. A wonderfully juicy, classy wine with lovely freshness and lift to its subtly deep flavors. Finishes with substantial but sweet and broad tannins and excellent length. A lovely expression of pinot. This cool site was favored in the very warm 2005 vintage: natural alcohol here is close to 13.5% but the wine retains its characteristic vibrancy.
Critic scores
Average Score
David Schildknecht, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
From Champs Traversins, a relatively drought-resistant, clay-rich, yet cool and breezy section of the appellation just south of Orveaux, Prieur’s 2005 Echezeaux exhibits liqueur-like blackberry and black cherry with resinous, smoky new oak overtones in the nose. Intensely concentrated on the palate but (in light of the stylistic trend at this address) surprisingly free of superficial sweetness, this substantial, in fact, downright, weighty wine is loaded with tannin that lends a certain severity. But there is the beginning of a certain creaminess as well. Smoked meats mingle with concentrated berry distillates and toasty oak in the finish. Nearly all bottlings from this negociant – on an upward path since the influx of Rodet capital in the early ‘90s – in fact originate in the Domaine Jacques Prieur. Martin Prieur and his team have striven to capture purity of fruit through gentle extraction, although for my taste I found some of their 2005s overly confectionary due to the influence of toasty new wood on already very sweetly ripe raw material. After malo – which was generally quite late here this year – the wines were sulfured but not yet racked. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700.
Deep, bright ruby. High-pitched aromas of black fruits, minerals, violet and mint. Firm, juicy and tightly wound, even a bit brutal today. This very structured, backward wine seems less fleshy and higher in acidity (the pH is a moderate 3.4) than most of the rest of these 2005s. This will need a longer time in barrel and in bottle.
From Champs Traversins, a relatively drought-resistant, clay-rich, yet cool and breezy section of the appellation just south of Orveaux, Prieur’s 2005 Echezeaux exhibits liqueur-like blackberry and black cherry with resinous, smoky new oak overtones in the nose. Intensely concentrated on the palate but (in light of the stylistic trend at this address) surprisingly free of superficial sweetness, this substantial, in fact, downright, weighty wine is loaded with tannin that lends a certain severity. But there is the beginning of a certain creaminess as well. Smoked meats mingle with concentrated berry distillates and toasty oak in the finish. Jun 2007, www.robertparker.com