Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret Echezeaux Grand Cru "la Grande Complication" (Magnum) (1.5 L)

When Jean-Baptiste Mongeard identified a serrated-leaf, low-yielding Pinot Noir mutation in the 19th century and had it preserved at the Beaune Viticultural School in 1884, he was encoding the domaine's entire philosophy into a single vine: less fruit, more concentration, longer life. That massal selection — the 'Pinot Mongeard' — still underpins every bottle from this estate, including this Échezeaux Grand Cru.

The ~1.82 ha Échezeaux parcel sits mid-slope on the Côte de Nuits, where clay over Bajocian limestone delivers both mineral density and drainage discipline, moderating the vine's natural generosity and driving vertical tension into the fruit. Average vine age across the estate runs 40–45 years, with root systems deep enough to express the limestone's chalky backbone directly.

Vinification retains 40–100% whole clusters, with cold pre-fermentation maceration over 4–5 days before native yeast fermentation at ~30°C for 12–15 days in temperature-controlled stainless steel. The wine transfers to barrel by gravity, then ages 18–22 months in French oak from Allier, Nièvre, and Vosges — up to ~60% new — with Vincent Mongeard personally calibrating the new-oak ratio at pressing by palate alone. Bottled unfiltered as standard practice.

The magnum format slows oxygen ingress, compressing the élevage curve and extending the drinking window well beyond what a 750 ml allows — an unusual choice for a Grand Cru already built for decades. The 2022 vintage, not yet documented in the brand library, follows a warm, early-ripening Burgundy season broadly noted for aromatic precision and supple structure; expect the Mongeard house style's characteristic fruit-forward approachability to arrive earlier than the 2019, with the limestone backbone ensuring a long arc.