• Gérard Mugneret

    • Echezeaux Grand Cru

    At a Glance

    • Etymology: Echezeaux share its etymology with numerous similar-sounding names and is a derivation of the old French Chesal or Chesel, which has a wide range of nuanced meanings all circling the same theme: once upon a time there was a small group of buildings here—farms, huts, cottages, ruins, carriage houses; the list goes on.
    • Size: 0.65 ha (1.61 ac)
    • Variety: Pinot Noir
    • Vine Age: Planted in 1942, 1943 and 1980
    • Terroir: Located in Les Quartiers de Nuits on soils of gravel and silt.
    • Viticulture: Uncertified biodynamic
    • Vinification: 80-90% whole cluster, ambient yeast ferment. Aged in oak barrels (40% new) for 12 to 18 months. Since 2016, very moderate sulfur additions: none during vinification, a little during élevage and before bottling, for a total of 15 to 20 ppm.

    Additional Info

    The parcel is sharecropped and owned by the Mugneret-Gibourg family. Their Echezeaux, though, is 50% each Quartiers de Nuits and Les Rouges du Bas. Pascal's is the only bottling exclusively from Quartiers de Nuits. Despite its location—it is the lowest of all the Echezeaux lieux-dits—it is not considered the worse part of Echezeaux. (That distinction goes to Les Treux.)

    But, as we all know, great farming and winemaking talent, old vines and great genetic material, often trump hierarchy. Pascal’s is a fruit-driven, beautiful, and highly rewarding bottle. “The only Echezeaux I know that issues exclusively from les Quartiers de Nuits is that of Domaine Gérard Mugneret, whose elegant and lighter style tends to counter the natural tendency of the climat to run toward rusticity,” affirms Allen Meadows.