Domaine Georges Noellat Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru 2018 0,75L

ROBERT PARKER ” More reserved than the Echézeaux, Cheurlin’s 2018 Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru exhibits deep aromas of cherries, cassis and sweet berries complemented by hints of burning embers, espresso roast, black truffle and peonies. Full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, it’s deep and structured, with considerable reserves of fruit framed by rich, powdery tannins. This is one of the most serious Grands Echézeaux I’ve tasted at this address, and it’s unapologetically built for the long haul. ”

I first visited Maxim Cheurlin at Domaine Georges Noëllat as a graduate student. In those early days, Maxime’s wines were supple and immediate, undergoing a comparatively rapid malolactic fermentation in the warm, only partially subterranean cellars located beneath his residence. Demonstratively delicious during élevage, they were head-turning and accessible. But then, in 2015, he installed air-conditioning, and everything changed. Cheurlin now delays malolactic fermentation for the better part of a year, chilling his cellars, and the wines evolve much more slowly: he only finished bottling his 2018s in July. Given the cellar’s new rhythm, I asked that we taste bottled 2018s rather than 2019s that had only just finished malolactic fermentation, and that’s how I’ll be covering this producer in the future. The new style chez Cheurlin is decidedly more serious and reserved, more saturated in color and more tightly wound, and these 2018s were very promising. It will be fascinating to track their evolution with bottle age.