Vinous – 92+

Good full red. Deep, sappy aromas of kirsch, violet and minerals, with a medicinal cast. Sweet on entry, then taut and penetrating in the middle, with superb energy to the flavors of tangy, crunchy red fruits. At once dense and light on its feet, finishing with a saline nuance and lingering cherry flavor. This serious, structured wine really lifts the palate and stimulates the taste buds. [Stephen Tanzer, 03/01/2011]

Robert Parker – 93

Candied cherry, marzipan, kirsch, and cinnamon on the nose of Rouget’s 2008 Echezeaux carry over into a palate at once obviously structured and sweetly ripe, with a steady flow of cherry and black raspberry as well as soothing glycerin (despite the wine’s modest ” circa 13% ” alcohol). Both smoked and roasted meat flavors lend depth, and this lingers with a terrific balance of freshness and sweetness, fine-grained tannin and glyceral richness. It deserves at least 4-5 years in bottle to develop almost inevitable further complexity and should be worth following for at least a dozen years. I tasted Emmanuel Rouget’s 2008s from barrel in April and he was planning to bottle them within a month. According to one of Rouget’s favorite descriptors, the vintage was “tres particulaire,” not to mention challenging. “I harvested at an average of 12%” potential alcohol, he reports, “and chaptalized less than a degree. That sufficed. It was more important to harvest while there was still good weather and besides, it was already cold. There was a lot of acidity, but that conveys a superb equilibrium and level of freshness. The wines really exhibit the plenitude of Pinot.” Rouget rejects what he acknowledges is a widespread comparison of 2008 with 1996, suggesting that the latter “was more marked by sunshine, and resulted in less-noticeable acidity.” (As noted in the introduction to this report, he compares 2008 with 1986.) Importer: Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400 [29/06/2010]

Anticipated maturity: 2010-2022