Échezeaux is the large grand cru that climbs the slope beside Clos de Vougeot, and Philippe Pacalet's 2021 gives it a perfumed, transparent reading. It is silky and precise, with the fine tannins of a cool year.
About This Wine
Échezeaux covers around 36 hectares in the commune of Flagey-Échezeaux, with a spread of lieux-dits that give quite different wines. In 2021 Pinot Noir budded around 12 April, after the worst frost nights, and the cooler Côte de Nuits suffered a little less than the Côte de Beaune. Yields were still low, often 40 to 60 per cent of normal. The reds have ripeness similar to 2014, with light but ripe tannins and expressive aromas early on, while the top sites keep their structure.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Red cherry, rose petal, sweet spice and a touch of forest floor.
- Palate: Silky and layered, with pure Pinot fruit, mineral detail and refined tannin.
- Finish: Graceful and persistent, floral and savoury.
Serving & Food
Best from about 2027 into the late 2030s. Give it an hour in a decanter while young and pour at about 17°C into a broad-bowled glass. Match it with roast duck with plum sauce, pigeon with beetroot, or a ripe Langres.
How to Enjoy
Special dinners and Burgundy cellars wanting a natural-leaning grand cru.
Product Details
Producer: Philippe Pacalet
Appellation: Échezeaux Grand Cru
Vintage: 2021
Region: Côte de Nuits, Burgundy, France
Grape: Pinot Noir
Format: 750mL
About the Maison
Vosne-Romanée is familiar ground for Pacalet. Before starting his own label he spent about ten years as winemaker at Domaine Prieuré-Roch, the estate founded in 1988 by Henry-Frédéric Roch, later co-manager of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. It was there that he first made Burgundy, and word soon spread about a young winemaker in Nuits-Saint-Georges working without sulphur.
He left in 2001 to launch his own négociant house. The grands crus remain small lots within a range that also runs from Chablis to Gevrey-Chambertin, and most of it is exported.