Community Tasting Note

Cailles wrote:

Saturday, November 18, 2023 - 2020 Romanée Conti Vintage Horizontal: All bottles were opened a few hours earlier, not decanted, but we had enough time to follow each wine for over an hour in the glass, which allowed for proper aeration and analysis. A few observations: 1) Without question, 2020 is a good vintage for the DRC. Similar to what I experienced in Bordeaux, the wines are less hedonistic and seductive than in 2019 (or 15/18), but have a little less substance. However, they shine with their purity of flavors, their lower ripeness and, above all, their superb freshness and airy texture. Classic. 2) The quality of the tannins is on a good level, but many of the reds will need time to soften. Today the Corton, RSV and RC were the only reds that did not show some hard edges. 3) La Tache (95pts) and (as always) the RC (93pts) were tight, even tighter than usual, only hinting at their potential. The top two reds, as in previous years, were the ever-improving, delicate RSV (97pts) and the deep, powerful and concentrated Richbourg (96pts). 4) The whites: The second vintage of CC (97pts) is outstanding (and my wine of the tasting), with lots of flint and toasted sesame notes and superb freshness and less overt weight than the Bonneau du Martray. The Montrachet (91pts), usually my favorite, was a bit underwhelming vs expectation, lacking the usual substance and poise, but it may just be in a dump phase.

TN: As usual, the La Tache and especially the Romanee Conti are the most backward wines in the lineup, only hinting at their potential. The La Tache has a rather intense and spicy nose with ripe dark fruit at the core. With time, more blue fruit and wet stone notes come forward. On the palate, the finesse and tannin quality is a step above the other wines. Intense and ultra-silky with fine dark fruit, spices, herbs, crushed stones, stems, with the fruit and spices in the foreground. This is probably the most seductive and staggering of the reds, but others were much more open and ready today. The potential, however, is undeniable. 95pts with potential for 98-100pts.

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