2012 - Echezeaux Grand Cru Echezeaux du Dessus, Cecile Tremblay

There is a lot going on in the 2012 Echezeaux du Dessus. The push and pull of fruit, acidity and minerality is simply mesmerizing. Here the flavors are dark and decidedly somber, with tremendous depth and pure power lurking in the glass. Over time, dark red fruit, spices, white flowers and menthol all come alive, but ultimately the 2012 is a wine of texture, power and precision. This is another exceptionally beautiful wine from Cécile Tremblay.

The 2012 Echezeaux Grand Cru, which comes from “Echezeaux du Dessus” was entirely de-stemmed. It has a delicate, refined bouquet with wild strawberry and raspberry scents that unfold beautifully in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with lovely, mineral-rich wild strawberry and pomegranate notes on the nose, the oak nearly folded into the fruit (30% new). The palate is very well balanced with good weight in the mouth and a seductive elegant finish with breeding and class. This is a wonderful Echezeaux that is destined to give immense pleasure to a lucky few. Let us put the work of a vigneron, or rather vigneronne into perspective. “I was working in the vineyard on 26 July,” Cecile Tremblay nonchalantly tells me. “Then I had my baby on 28 July. I was back in the vines the following week.” So not only did Cecile contend with a horrendously difficult growing season, ostensibly on her own since she seems to do everything herself, but she also oversaw the construction of a new winery opposite the “Tres Girard” restaurant in Morey and to cap it all, she has another bun in the oven. The phrase “indomitable spirit” is often bandied round, but I cannot think of anyone it applies to more than this wild haired charismatic lady pouring her wines, accompanied by her beloved hound Cacao snoring just behind, oblivious to the hard work of its master. Her domaine is a relatively new arrival, Cecile having given birth to it just ten years ago, 1 January 2003 according to writer Bill Nanson. I ask whether Cecile aspired towards the life as a vigneronne as a child growing up in Vosne-Romanee, her grandmother part of the Jayer family. “When I was young I said: I hate this work,” she replies forcefully. “Today I say: it is the best work in my life. I love working in the vineyard. I love understanding the soil and the terroirs.” At that time, their vineyards had been rented out for two generations until 2003 when Cecile decided to throw herself into winemaking and tend the vines h