Domaine
de la Romanée Conti 2009
Tasting the eagerly awaited 2009s from this famous Burgundy domaine
2009 has been celebrated as a great year
for red Burgundy, so the release of Domaine de la Romanée Conti’s
2009s has been eagerly awaited.
The UK launch took place today at Corney
& Barrow’s offices. As the sole agents for DRC in the UK, they
are responsible for the tricky job of allocating the wines. While
they are expensive, they are offered at a price somewhat below the
open market value because the domaine wants collectors to buy and
drink the stuff. Of course, this creates an opportunity for flippers
(people who buy with the intention of quick resale at a higher
price), but to deter this serial numbers are taken and people lose
their allocations if they resell the wines without first offering
them back to Corney & Barrow. There’s an unwritten five year
rule—that’s the length of time that you need to keep them before
reselling them without risk of trouble.
These days 95% of the wine goes straight
to private clients. The big exception in 2009 will be the 1er Cru
Duvault-Blochet which will be targeted at restaurants. Ultimately,
the domaine want to encourage consumption, because unless corks are
popped the secondary market is all about speculation, and there’s
the risk of a bubble developing.
Back to the wine. 2009 is a ripe vintage,
but DRC have managed brilliantly to keep freshness, precision and
tension in the wines. There’s no heaviness or over-ripeness in
these wines. I think that this is a superb line-up of particularly
ageworthy wines, yet they are (as is normal) surprisingly delicious
and approachable now. The tannins on many of them are fine but quite
firm, and there’s some nice greenness in some of the wines which
will resolve beautifully in bottle. Catch them if you can!
THE
WINES
Domaine de la Romanée Conti Vosne-Romanée
1er Cru Duvault-Blochet 2009
Savoury yet elegant with lovely precision. Red cherry fruit, herbs
and spice with some mineral notes. Fresh and fine, in a slightly
lighter style. 93/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti
Corton 2009 The first release of this wine. In 2008 the domaine took out a
lease on three small plots from Domaine Prince Florence de Mérode
totalling 2.3 hectares, which for now are all blended but when all
the vines are of sufficient age will be offered separately. This has
lovely aromatics with bright vivid black cherry fruit and lively
spiciness. The palate is firmly structured and assertive with notes
of spice, plums and cherries, backed up by high acidity. One for the
long haul. 95/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti Échézeaux
2009 Very pretty open nose of sweet cherry fruit, yet with some
restrained green notes too. The palate is structured and quite
grippy with a bit of greenness as well as some spicy chocolatey
notes. Lovely structure and texture here, with some volume on the
mid palate. 95/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti
Grands Échézeaux 2009 Very fine and sweetly aromatic on the nose, with elegance and
refinement, as well as purity. The palate is taut and fine with an
attractive green edge to the cherry fruit. Fine-grained but firm
structure with purity and finesse. Sappy, intense. 95/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti
Richebourg 2009 Beautifully fine, elegant nose with lovely tension between the
sweet ripe cherry fruit and the green overtones. The palate shows
vivid cherry fruit and some green herbal notes. Really elegant but
quite powerfully structured. Already harmonious, but with lots of
room for further development. 96/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti
Romanée-St-Vivant
2009 Smooth aromatics of sweet cherry and berry fruit, with some
mineral notes. Very fine. The palate is sweet with a bit of oak
apparent. Very ripe and pure with lush cherry and plum fruit. Silky
texture with fine-grained tannins. An incredible mouthfeel:
concentrated, smooth, elegant. 97/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti la Tâche
2009 Incredible nose: the real outlier of this group. Roast coffee,
herbs, black cherry and spice. Very showy and also a little reduced.
The palate is sweetly fruited with cherry and plums as well as a bit
of reductive grippiness. Firm tannins alongside sweet, intense black
cherry fruit. A bit angular now but with great potential. 96/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti
Romanée-Conti Sweet, rich and pure on the nose with dense cherry and plum
fruit, as well as some attractive green sappy notes. The palate is
powerful yet really fresh and elegant, showing nice pure linear
cherry fruit with firm, fine structure. Concentrated, so fresh, so
pure, and with so much potential. 97/100
