2017 Domaine Emmanuel Rouget Echezeaux Grand Cru

Richer and more expansive than the Beaux Monts, the 2017 Echézeaux Grand Cru displays aromas of sweet wild berries, licorice, smoked meats, burning embers and candied peel. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ample and textural with good depth and dimension at the core, concluding with a long, gourmand finish. While this Echézeaux is generous, it isn't open-knit, and it should offer a broad drinking window. The 2017 vintage is a great success at this address, where sons Guillaume and Nicolas have joined their father Emmanuel since respectively the 2009 and 2010 vintages. Gourmand but succulent, the house style is fleshy, even dramatic, and for the better part of the last decade, it has arguably been more consistently realized than in any other era of the domaine's history. The higher appellations still wear a generous veneer of new oak—from coopers including François Frères, Taransaud and Cavin—but the village wines see fewer new barrels and are the better for it. Macerations of destemmed berries are gentle, privileging purity of fruit and suppleness of tannin. And Emmanuel, Guillaume and Nicolas have made the most of 2017, authoring a portfolio of seductively satiny, lively wines that will be immensely drinkable throughout long lives. Though they're hard to find, they come warmly recommended. (WK) 92-94+