Mugneret-Gibourg Echezeaux Grand Cru 2023 750ml

Founded 1933 by Jeanne Gibourg and André Mugneret. Their son Georges Mugneret was, unusually, a practicing ophthalmologist who ran the domaine as a parallel passion. When he died in 1988 after a short illness, his widow Jacqueline and their two daughters — Marie-Christine, who gave up a career as a chemist, and Marie-Andrée, who finished her oenology degree — took over rather than sell. They merged the family's two domaines into the unified Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg in 2009. The sisters still run it today, and the wine world regards them as among the finest, most consistent hands in all of Burgundy. Matt Kramer called it "one of the great Burgundy producers... pure, accurate and high-impact." Just 8 hectares (20 acres) total across 9 appellations, producing only 20,000–30,000 bottles a year — extremely small for the acclaim it commands.

This specific vineyard: The family's Echezeaux comes from two parcels — Les Rouges du Bas (the highest point of the vineyard) and Les Quartiers de Nuits (bordering Clos Vougeot). Jeanne and André acquired Quartiers de Nuits in 1930 and added Rouges du Bas in 1934 — over 90 years of unbroken family ownership of this exact ground, predating the domaine's formal founding. Deep gravel-and-silt soil. Since 2016 the sisters have added about 12% whole-cluster fruit to this cuvée specifically for aromatic lift.

Winemaking: Hand-harvested, sorted, destemmed, 4–5 day cold soak, ~10 day fermentation on native yeast, 15–20 day total vatting, aged 18 months in French oak (up to 70% new for grand cru), bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Tasting notes: Concentrated ripe mulberry and black plum fruit with peony, pepper, and earth; dense, velvety texture; substantial tannins built for aging. Jasper Morris (Inside Burgundy) scored it 95–98 points, tasted November 2024. Decanter gave it 96. Recommended drinking window 2032–2040 — this is a wine meant to sleep for a decade-plus.

Food pairings: beef filet in mushroom pastry crust, duck confit, truffle omelette. Classic Burgundy grand cru territory — anything earthy, rich, and not overly sauced.