Henri Jayer Echezeaux Grand Cru 1966 750ml

From Internet
A beautifully complex and fully mature nose offers plenty of spice, plum and earth nuances and while this is ripe, there is not a trace of that cooked aspect that some '76s often display. There is fine richness to the intense and solidly concentrated medium-bodied flavors that offer the same stunning complexity as the nose, all wrapped in a mouth coating, balanced and strikingly long finish. This is an exceptionally impressive effort for the vintage and one that should continue to hold well for years to come. One other aspect that is interesting is how much better this bottle was relative to all of the other Jayer '76s that I have tasted.

Henri Jayer was regarded as the one person that influenced the skill of younger wine growers in Burgundy over the last two decades. His reputation was founded securely on an almost unbroken succession of superlative wines from his small Domaine, 6.30ha that are concentrated in and around Vosne-Romaneé and comprising everything from Passé-Tout-Grains to Echézeaux.
After his retirement in 2001, Henri Jayer passed responsibility of his vineyards to his protégé, Jean-Nicolas Méo and the day to day running of the Domaine to his nephew, Emmanuel Rouget, so they no longer appear under the Jayer label. However he kept back a barrel or so of Cros Parantoux until 2001, so bottles of that wine in the later years under his label may be genuine. Such is the demand for Jayer wines and the extraordinary prices which they achieve in the open market that alas there are clearly also some fraudulent bottles in circulation as well.