Bricking throughout with a slight orange tint at the rim. Bouquet of damp earth, dark fruit, minerals and game soar from the glass. The aromatics are superb, and become even more pronounced with time in the glass. An absolute joy to smell. Medium bodied with good concentration. Flavors of dark fruit linger on a long finish. This was meaty and chunky when first drank around 1995, but several decades of aging has transformed its texture to a more silky quality. Good to go, and well-stored bottles will last for many more years. This benefitted from 2+ hours in a decanter.
Engel’s '85 Grand Echezeaux was my epiphany wine. Rare to see Engel in the market these days, but always worth considering if you see some. The '99 Clos Vougeot is destined to be spectacular. Engel was a great producer.
Funny, the '85 Clos Vougeot was my “epiphany wine” in 1988. I was preparing for my third trip the region, but first where I knew what I wanted to do and made appointments, etc. I made sure to visit Engel because of that wine. Philippe said, modestly, that the Grands Echezaux was even better…and opened a bottle for us.
Engel could be a great producer…but…their holdings didn’t always translate into great wines under Philippe, IMO. He was a little unfocused…and then died suddenly, tragically, in the early 2000’s on Francois Faiveley’s (his cousin) yacht, in the arms of Philippe Senard. The estate had been somewhat of a mess, too…with various family members taking charge…and finally selling it. Sad, as Philippe’s father died young, too.
I remembered that there was some tragic story about this house and it got split up, but not the details. Thanks for that Stuart. Such a shame. Isn’t it called something else now? Are those wines any good?
It was a real mess. Philippe had a brother and two sisters, and his mother was still alive when he died. The younger brother, Frederic, who I think was an antique dealer in Miami and points south…dabbled as marketing and director of something else…but he didn’t even know much about the holdings, let alone how to make wine. (The guy regularly oversold the stock and then told people he goofed and could not fulfill orders.)
My guess is that that situation, combined with the wonderful, though limited, holdings…resulted in an offer no one wanted to refuse.
The mother was, by far, the most together of those working there. In fact, she pretty much ran the operation until the end.
Engel wines are great although inconsistent. Had a slightly tired 97 Engel CV last night - still enjoyable but was probably better 5 years ago. The Eugenie wines are expensive but they’re cheap compared to the Engel wines these days.
The Engel wines I’ve had are all over the place. I wasn’t a buyer when it was still Engel, and I sure as hell am not now either. Makes me laugh a lot what has happened with Engel, Truchot and others. These producers never had great reputations when they were active, and the wines in large part languished on the shelves and in many cases ended up discounted. And I never bought them even at those prices. Now that they are gone, there has been an inexplicable run up in prices. Funny if you ask me. I won’t be buying any.
The new Engel - Eugenie - is quite expensive and made with a heavy hand. The ones I’ve tried have been oversized/blocky and too extracted…like someone from Chateau Latour made this Burgundy…oh right, they kinda did! (The 2008s are a bit of an exception here - I think the leaner and more acid driven style of the vintage helped to make the Eugenie wines from that year less foursquare and more vibrant.)
Blair, I agree with a lot of your points. I think while Philippe was alive the Engel wines were underrated and some collectors appreciated them as quality sources of grand and premier crus for decent enough prices. However, over the past few years the wines seem to have gained a following that they never had before - it doesn’t seem to be a case of die-hard fans bidding up the few remaining stocks. The few Eugenie wines I’ve hard are pretty modern but perhaps there is enough fruit there to eat the oak 20 years down the line.
I still remember the 85 Clos Vougeot that I had, swiped from my Dad’s cellar, in the early 00’s. I didn’t know Engel for shit at the time and the wine completely sandbagged me - beautiful purity and great spice, meat, and depth without weight. If I had been a more savvy buyer back then, I would have used the data to pivot and start buying significant quantities. Alas, I didn’t.
I think the phenomena we are seeing is that high-level, classic Red Burgundy is hard to find. For a long time, the style wasn’t appreciated by most/many, but when that changed, and the wines became sought after in both old and new markets, the low production led to a sharp spike in price. I don’t think Engel’s or Truchot’s lack of ‘reputation’ had anything to do with quality, it was more about market trends, mostly ones I consider to be quite negative. I’m glad to see the wines get the attention they deserve, I just wish I could afford them.
I’m glad I got some of the top classic wines before the prices went nuts - I mean, I knew that the wines were undervalued at the time compared to BDX or CA, but I had no idea what was going to happen. As it was, when the first tier went ballistic, I should have bought Engel and a few others, as it was, I just switched to Volnay, Pommard and Corton. It would have made sense to include lesser-known Cote de Nuits producers, but, as I said, I wasn’t as conscious a buyer as I am now.
We had 2 bottles of this . One with a terrible funk that never blew off. Another with some funk that blew off but never really dazzled. Glad yours showed much better!
Not sure where the idea that Engel was “under the radar” or underrated comes from here. They weren’t. Philippe’s grandfather, Rene, was a professor at the school of oenology and was one of the best known figures in the region and the wine industry in Burgundy…and , I think, in the Chevaliers du Tastevin.
I think the place was always held in high esteem from the time of Rene to Phillppe’s father through Philippe. Philippe was a reticent, somewhat shy guy…who didn’t take himself too seriously (and had some notable personal issues)…he was often playing cards in the cellar with his friends. He was not a publicity hound nor particularly articulate…unlike say Patrice Rion or Christophe Roumier are. (His mother was clearly in charge of the estate!!)And, duing the period when I paid attention (1988-2007), getting a bottle of Engel wine in the region or in the US was almost as hard as getting a bottle of Henri Jayer…certainly at the winery, they never had anything to sell to speak of.
And, for me their Grands Echezaux was almost always among the very top wines of Burgundy…a wonderful wine of incredible subtlty and class.
Its reputation is not a recent thing. Truchot is an entirely different story. It was a one-generation winery; Jacky bought it from a cousin and sold it when he retired. Its reputation was almost unknown in Burgundy and in the US outside of the Washington, DC area…and still is. Peter Weygandt, who “discovered” the estate in 1988 (the same year I first visited) was based in DC and created a fan club there…with some very loud cheerleaders on this board. Good wine, for sure, but not near the league of Engel, IMO.
Maybe it’s a UK vs US thing. Engel was always well respected although even the domaine’s most ardent supporters would acknowledge during Philippe’s stewardship that there were some indifferent years mixed among the great years. However, his wines were never priced at the top of the Burgundy tree and you could get them in the UK. Now they’re gold dust and very difficult to find.
To quote Neal Martin on his write-up of a recent Engel vertical “I immediately thought of all those occasions in the late 1990s buying odd bottles of the late Philippe Engel’s wines not only to enjoy, but educate myself about Burgundy. Back in those days, Engel was regarded as a good grower though not within the elite. Despite some choice vineyard holdings in Grands-Echézeaux and Les Brûlées, his was a small, compact portfolio of half-a-dozen labels that commanded what in retrospect were bargain basement prices. Twenty or thirty quid would secure you a self-respecting Echézeaux from the early 1990s, peanuts compared to current eye-watering prices.”
Perhaps I’ll open up an Engel tomorrow as a reminder and report back.
We’ll have to disagree on that. I have more than I’ll drink in my lifetime, and I have offers every day to buy more. Better wines than any Engel I’ve ever had for much better prices.
Anyone who wants Engel can have it. Not for me. Current prices make no sense based on what’s in the bottle.