ÉCHEZEAUX
2011 Grand Cru Domaine J. Confuron Cotetidot
Supple, rich and harmonious, There's fruit, but above all there is a seamless drive and directness of power, and a saline whippiness and tension. Very long with wild spicy notes on the finish.L&S (Jan 2013)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
Bright, full red. Expressive nose combines redcurrant, spices, underbrush and dried flowers. Very concentrated and complex, with wild game and earth nuances to the sweet redcurrant, coffee and mocha flavors. Shows hints of darker berries and fresh flowers in the middle palate, but still not quite as high-pitched as the Suchots. Finishes with big, broad, ripe tannins and excellent length. In this normally very early vintage, Yves Confuron picked during the second half of September. He told me that early harvesters did not get ripe tannins. Rating: 93 Stephen Tanzer, www.vinousmedia.com (Dec 2014)
Bright crimson. Intense level of fruit. Really quite snazzy at first. Tamped down a bit to a dry finish but it is clearly of superior quality. Lots of energy here. But it lacks the extra register of intensity of fruit one might expect for this money. 2018-2030 Rating: 17 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Jan 2013)
(from a .45 ha parcel in Les Treux where Clos de Vougeot meets Grands Echézeaux). This is also exceptionally spicy with ripe aromas of earth and black currant as well as plenty of floral influence. There is excellent volume and phenolic maturity to the underlying structural elements that shape and support the relatively large-scaled flavors that culminate in a driving finish that delivers flat out phenomenal length. Note that that this beauty is a good choice only for the very, very patient among you as it’s built for the very long-term. 2031+ Rating: 92-94 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jan 2013)
Yves “I don’t own a destemmer-crusher” Confuron is a fervent advocate of whole bunch fermentation. The stems add structure as well as a sappiness here, but the fruit is classy and sweet, putting flesh on the skeleton. 2017-28 Rating: 95 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Dec 2012)
Silky dark and more up toned aroma. So urbane on the palate. Silky texture and tannin. Threaded with freshness. Pure and aromatic, dark finish. A lovely, long rippling wine. Top notch. Very Fine. From 2018 Rating: 19 Sarah Marsh MW, The Burgundy Briefing (Nov 2012)
Domaine J. Confuron Cotetidot
Vignerons since the seventeenth century, the Confuron family has always selected and propagated vines to ensure that their plant material produces the highest quality, and they even have a clone of Pinot named after them - 'Pinot Confuron'.
The domaine has several Grands Cru vineyards as well as two hectares of the great Vosne Romanée Premier Cru 'Les Suchots'. There are around 12 hectares in all. The vines have never seen chemical weedkillers, and are ploughed and managed organically.
The Confurons have always used whole-bunch fermentation, picking very late, which really is a necessity if the stems are to be properly ripe and not give green flavours to the wine. A bit like the Thévenets with their whites in the Mâconnais, they pick so much later that they can seem to have different vintages to everyone else. Yves thinks that 2007 was their great vintage of the first decade of this millennium, and he'd probably be the only grower in the Côte de Nuits who would say that. Yves also makes the wines at Domaine de Courcelin Pommard, in the same way.
Yves, opinionated and laconical as ever, dismisses those who make pale wines by 'infusion' and says that failing to get the whole bunches properly ripe - and using all the bunch - is failing to get everything the terroir can offer. The wines he makes are dark, richly concentrated, and often hard to taste in their development, but experience shows that they age brilliantly. Defending his decision to pick late, he once said 'you miss the differentiation between vintages' if you don't - making 'cut-and-paste' wines which are the same every year... if you pay for a seat at the opera, you don't want to hear a variety singer'.
Please note that certain wines are on very tight allocations and will first be offered to customers who buy across the range. If you have any queries, please email our primeurs team or speak to your usual L&S contact. Please feel free to email us at any time. This list can include wines listed as available on the website, as well as those marked 'To Be Advised'. We will reply as soon as possible with confirmation of what we can offer. Wines bought en primeur are scheduled to arrive in the UK over the course of the next eighteen months. If you do not wish to take home delivery, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our primeurs team for more information. While helpful, we do not require a firm commitment on delivery destination to process your primeur order at this stage. Our team will be in contact with you when your wines arrive in the UK to confirm the necessary delivery details. OFFER: All wines are offered subject to availability and final confirmation. PRICING: All prices are quoted IN BOND ex-VAT, by the case size stated. Please double check that the desired case size does match what is being offered as wines are variously listed in threes, sixes, dozens, halves and larger formats. DELIVERY - TIMING: This is a primeur offer so the wines are not yet physically available for delivery. They will be shipped to the UK over the next eighteen months. Generally, wines are shipped to your nominated location once the whole order has landed in our London City Bond account. If you require wines to be delivered by a certain date, please advise us at the time of ordering. DELIVERY - FEES: In bond delivery to an Elephant Storage account (for more information see 'Storage Options' opposite) is free of charge. Transfer of wines to any third-party bond (i.e. not Elephant Storage) will incur an administration charge of £16.50 + VAT for all orders under £1,000. Please indicate if you would like the wine duty paid and a duty & VAT invoice will be raised once all the wines on your order are available for shipment. Once the relevant duty & VAT has been settled, we will ship the wines to your nominated address as per our normal duty paid Delivery Terms. PAYMENT: All orders will be invoiced for immediate payment by cheque, cash, debit card or cleared funds to our account. We regret that we cannot accept credit cards for primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.ORDERING VIA OUR WEBSITE:
ORDERING VIA EMAIL:
STORAGE OPTIONS:
BURGUNDY EN PRIMEUR FAQ