From a benchmark vintage, the 2005 Échezeaux Grand Cru by Bouchard Père & Fils shows serious class — dark cherry, spice, and earthy depth wrapped in firm yet refined structure. Still youthful, with great ageing potential and unmistakable Grand Cru elegance.

* Available for pre-order, estimated delivery December 2025
* Offered in OWC 1 or OWC 6 cases

The Wine Advocate | RP 88+?
Published: Jun 29, 2007

From the high-elevation En Orveaux section of its cru, the Bouchard 2005 Echezeaux offers aromas of ripe red cherry, white pepper, and chalk dust. Sappy and well-concentrated on the palate and with abundant but fine tannins, it preserves a rather tart edge throughout and finishes with a slight sense of agitation and heat that suggest it might need additional time to settle down after bottling.

Managing director Stephane Follin and cellar master Philippe Prost preside over a remarkable new, gravity-fed winemaking facility capable of handling the fruits of Bouchard’s 130 hectares of vines – Burgundy’s largest estate (with 84 hectares in premier and grand crus alone) – not to mention the enormous range of wine from purchased fruit or wines. Fully 40% of the reds are vinified in open-top fermenters with manual punch-downs (the balance in a battery of roto-fermentors) and the system of traffic control alone that must be in place during crush is hard to imagine. The underground acreage devoted to barriques similarly defies imagination – until one sees it. Prost was very cautious with pigeage this year, but incorporated a significant percentage of whole clusters with stems in many of his better lots. A reputation for improved quality is being built here to which the results of 2005 will certainly contribute. I suspect that a number of the wines I tasted had not recovered from their recent bottling, hence the number of “+?”s one sees displayed following my scores. (Wines from the Domaine are designated D on the list above.)

Bouchard-pereetfils.com

TASTING NOTE: Intense aromas of red fruit and spices entwined with oaky hints. This wine is a perfect marriage of the elegance of its terroir and the power of its Grand Cru standing. Very good ageing potential.

FOOD/WINE PAIRING: Roasts or meat dishes in sauce, medium-flavoured cheeses.

SERVING TEMPERATURE: Between 17C to 18C

AGEING POTENTIAL: 10 years and more

MATURING: 12 to 14 months in French oak, with 45 to 60% new oak.

AGEING: The cellars located in the Bastions of the ancient Chateau de Beaune offer ideal ambient conditions. Thanks to their natural hygrometry and constant temperatures, the Grands Crus enjoy from their first youth an environment that is perfectly adapted to tranquil ageing.

GRAPE VARIETY: Pinot Noir

SOIL OF THE APPELATION: Limestone and clay with stones