Community Tasting Note

Hank Gillespie Likes this wine:

Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - Pulled some La Tache bottles from my cellar to share with good friends on May 29th, 2013.

Those joining us were from Edmonton, Vancouver, Tucson and Adelaide, and we followed the tasting with dinner prepared by the Chef at my golf Club.

While virtually all of the wines were young, having yet to achieve a satisfactory point of maturity for drinking, it was nevertheless an informative exercise. I had only tasted a couple of the wines previously. Additionally I had the notes from the producer together with the impressions of a few published wine critics to review in selecting the order of tasting. This order of tasting might well have been different with each day passing, but didn’t make any changes after the initial selection.

There was a great deal of similarity in the wines from La Tache, with the differences attributable to the climatic conditions of each vintage year. There might have been slight modifications with the application of winemaking practices, but these would have been minor.

Probably the most difficult part of the exercise was in differentiating a preference for any single wine, since the tasting comprised such a lofty echelon to begin with. They were all great in their own right.

As I read through some of the critics’ expectations of maturity, I had to wonder whether these estimated maturity dates were even valid. True, these wise critics had more experience with La Tache than I have, but an anticipated drinking window for the 2008 La Tache at 2034 and beyond ??? Well to each his own, but my own expectations fall short of those estimates, especially after tasting this lineup.

Because many at the tasting had no experience with older DRC wines, I tossed in a 40-year old Romanee-Conti at the end of the La Tache’s, so that people could see what happens to an older Burgundy over time. While it wasn’t perhaps the best vintage, the wine rested in my cellar for most of its life – excellent conditions and a high fill helped, with DRC also being able to produce a quality wine in a less than favorable vintage.

We were a little late getting underway and wanted to be finished at a particular time, to allow the Club to set up the room for dinner. Consequently we might have wished a bit more time to evaluate the wines. While slow to get started with comments, the group became more vocal in describing their sensations, no doubt having their chords lubricated sufficiently with some of the wine.

I didn’t see anyone spitting.

2000 La Tache (Monopole)
Domaine de la Romanee-Cont

Medium ruby color; aromas needed some coaxing to bring out a bevy of spices, berry fruit and some floral notes; supple and easy on the entry; rich texture; moves through layers of flavors – ripe cherry, strawberry darting in and out; some definite sweetness; balanced – elegantly styled, with a firm structure – acidity and tannins exist but are covered to a large degree by the fruit; the tannins especially are not aggressive; finishes with lingering fruit – almost lilt like on the palate; holds exceptionally well, although not a powerful wine; possesses charm and consistency throughout. This was a good wine to begin the tasting; it warmed up the palate for the next wines without being overly aggressive. I believe this wine is ready now, but has some considerable life ahead given the level of fruit and structure.

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