Grands-Echezeaux

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyard lies within the Côte de Nuits, a rectilinear ridge of tectonic origin stretching approximately 25 kilometres in a general north–south direction.
• The temperate oceanic climate, nuanced by continental and southerly influences channelled up through the Rhône corridor, brings moderate rainfall of around 750 millimetres per year and a mean annual temperature of 10.5 °C.
• The slope, with a difference in elevation of approximately 150 metres, is composed of a sequence of Middle Jurassic limestones, including the Comblanchien limestone — a particularly compact formation that constitutes the structural backbone of the relief.
• A layer of Bajocian calcareous clay marls is intercalated within the limestone sequence in the lower part of the slope, creating a slight topographic bench.
• The plots are nestled at the foot of the Côte, in a piedmont position, at the mouth of a deeply incised combe that has generated a small alluvial fan where soils combine scree, clays, and silts.
• The thin, calcareous, poorly developed soils have a high clay content yet remain well-drained owing to the limestone nature of the subsoil, and a strong presence of iron oxides gives them their characteristic red colour.

• In the thirteenth century, the monks of Cîteaux Abbey farmed vineyard plots in the 'Echézeaux' sector, adjoining the Clos de Vougeot, with which the 'Echézeaux bas' vineyard formed a perfect quadrilateral.
• The appellation d'origine contrôlée 'Grands Echézeaux' was recognised by decree in 1937, following a 1925 ruling that defined the appellation d'origine and fixed its geographical boundaries.
• The planting is dominated by Pinot noir, at a high planting density — in keeping with the practices prevailing in the Côte de Nuits — of more than 9,000 vines per hectare, and the wines undergo extended ageing.

• The wines show a ruby-red colour with violet highlights, dense yet supple tannins, and generally present minerality.
• The bouquet, refined and complex, often expresses aromas of fresh cherry, rose, or violet, along with animal and spicy notes, undergrowth, and prune, with a very long aromatic finish.
• These wines age very well, with a cellaring potential of five to fifteen years, and up to twenty years in the greatest vintages.

• The natural environment is fertile but not excessively so, thanks to the well-structured, iron oxide-rich clays, with optimal water balance provided by a surface layer that retains moisture and a draining limestone subsoil.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — BIVB