Visit to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

Burgundy, France
Tasted Thursday, May 16, 1996 by Hank Gillespie with 2,653 views

Introduction

These tasting notes cover a visit to DRC in May, 1996. Tasting here comprised a couple of 1995's from barrel - together with a number of other vintages from bottle, including two older wines from off-vintages.

Flight 1 (2 Notes)

  • 1995 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

    From barrel. Deep, dark and rich looking. Aromas of violets and new oak. Really quite balanced - lots of fruit and oak in the flavours. Powerfully structured. Extremely long finish. The wine will remain another 12-14 months barrels.

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  • 1995 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée-Conti Grand Cru

    Also from barrel. Bright ruby, with purple edges. Penetrating aromas - cherry, spices and oak. Crisp acidity - quite perky - with a lot of elegance in style. Much more fruit than La Tache, and less oak. Very long and clean in the finish - doesn't have the power of La Tache. Each aging cellar seems to make a difference, according to the winemaker. The above wines were held in the original 12th Century cellars of the monks of Saint Vivant.

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Flight 2 (7 Notes)

We then moved to the impressive bottle cellars.

  • 1994 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Wine now 2 months in bottle. Quite dark, full appearance. Powerful aromas - layers of fruit and oak. Rich, spicey dark berry fruits over oak - already great harmony - and a very long finish. This wine is most impressive - will continue to improve and be attractive for at least a dozen years. Excellent! This wine typifies the quality we experienced in the 1994's - and they just got better and better as we moved up the scale.

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  • 1994 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Deep ruby colour - very attractive. The aromas are quite full - plenty of oak showing over the fruit. Extremely rich - full, deep concentrated dark cherry fruit - supple and generous on the palate. Really complex and lovely fruit on the finish. A very fine wine!

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  • 1994 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru

    Another wine of deep ruby colour. Attractive aromas - some floral overtones above the fruit and oak. Smooth texture - a bit fat in the mouth - good acidity and intense flavours. Long deep finish. Probably 6 years away.

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  • 1994 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru

    Excellent deep ruby colour. Long and penetrating aromas - berry fruit and cherries with spicey oak. Very fat in the mouth - harmonious blend of acidity and tannins to provide a powerful structure for the concentrated dark cherry and toasty oak flavours. Supple and rich. The finish goes on and on - marvelously rich and intense. This is an outstanding wine - probably should be held for another 8 years.

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  • 1994 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru

    Great colour again - but a more solid wine than the Richebourg. Aromas a bit subdued - but suggesting spices and dark fruits. Extremely powerful wine, but it is nontheless quite supple on the palate. A real mouthful - fat and intense - with a lot of richness. A bit backward, but showing great potential for the longer term. Everything in place, but it is just awakening.

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  • 1994 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée-Conti Grand Cru

    A much more delicate wine than La Tache. Colour is deep ruby. Quite perfumy on the nose - layers of fruit. Completely balanced.silky smooth on the palate - really complex spice and ripe berry fruit flavours over a lightly toasted oak frame. Long on the finish - a bit sweet-edged. This should be ready ahead of La Tache - lots of class but less powerful. It doesn't get a lot better than this.

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  • 1991 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru

    Medium dark ruby colour. Mature nose - warm, full sweet fruit and spices. Full, round and rich on the palate - spicey, cherry flavours - should develop further in the bottle. Smokey, oak finish with baked fruit flavours in the finish. Lingers quite long.

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Flight 3 (3 Notes)

The latter tastings were designed to illustrate what DRC did in these off years, and to assess their aging over the years.

Closing

NOTE: These notes do not include all of the wines tasted.

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