The du Clos Frantin's 2006 Grands Echezeaux comes from strips adjacent to the estate's holdings in Clos Vougeot. More obviously structured than the corresponding Echezeaux but without that wine's vivacity or refinement, this is densely packed with sappy, tart red and black fruits as well as fine-grained tannin, brown spices and chalk emerging in an imposingly long and savory finish. It too should benefit from 2-3 years in bottle and remain satisfying for at least a half dozen.
The Albert Bichot firm incorporates no fewer than four separate domaines – the venerable Long-Depaquit in Chablis (about which, consult my reports in issues 186 and 179); Nuits-St.-Georges-based Domaine du Clos Frantin; Pommard-based Domaine du Pavillon; and the much smaller Domaine Adelie in Mercurey – each of which has its own press house, those in the Cote de Beaune and Cote de Nuits also processing purchased grapes. Alberic Bichot is articulate and enthusiastic when it comes to expounding his company's qualitative ambitions and the results showed amid the subset of both white and red wines I tasted, which, incidentally, are all matured in 350- rather than 225-liter barrels.
Numerous importers, including Atherton Wine Imports, Menlo Park, CA, tel. (650) 328-6639 and Bayfield Importing, Long Island, NY (718) 482-0200
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