Domaine
de la Romanée-Conti 2004
DRC, as Domaine de la Romanée Conti is commonly known,
is one of the world’s most revered wine estates, making highly
sought after wines that live up to the enormous hype they receive.
They’re fiendishly expensive, of course (if you have to ask the
price…they range from £122 for the Echezeaux to £980 for the
RC, per bottle of course), but even if you are a Russian oil
billionaire where price isn’t really an issue, you can’t just
send your order form into Corney & Barrow and expect to come
away with any wine. This is because despite the eye watering
prices, there’s still an enormous unmet need on the part of
collectors to have these wines in their cellars. The release
prices are therefore some way below the open market prices. As a
consequence, Corney & Barrow allocate according to buying
history, customer loyalty and various other considerations,
including an awareness that they do need to let new customers have
a look-in because they will be tomorrow’s loyal customers.
2004 was a tricky vintage in Burgundy. After a cool-ish,
damp summer, things were looking grim at the end of August, but
victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat with six weeks of
warm, bright and dry weather preceding a harvest that began on 25
September.
Aubert
de Villaine (right) was present at the tasting. I asked him
about 2004, and whether in a more difficult vintage whole bunches
are fermented in the usual fashion. ‘In a perfect vintage like
1999, we use all the stems’, he replied. ‘In a difficult
vintage we’ll use 50%. Selection is important.’ So what are
the keys to success when you are in charge of such a great domaine?
‘We inherit a certain history’, he says. ‘The vineyard is
made up of hundereds of different types [by which I assume he
means terroirs], and one will give good results in one year and
another not so good. Selection is important, and we need an
experienced team.’ In terms of winemaking, nothing radical goes
on here. Aubert emphasizes that good traditional winemaking
techniques that have stood the test of time are all that are
needed to produce great wines such as these.
The temptation in a line-up like this, which is clearly
hierarchical in terms of price, is to score hierarchically. But
I’ve tried my best to assess each wine on its own merits. It may
have been a ‘difficult’ year, but the wines showed very
nicely, although perhaps not hitting the extreme heights that they
can manage in more favourable years. Still, I’d be delighted to
have any of these in my cellar.
Domaine de la Romanée Conti Echézeaux 2004
Highly perfumed with a beautiful, open, expressive nose with
sweet cherry fruit, some lovely spicy complexity and a hint of
roast coffee. It’s really beautiful. The palate has some spicy
structure under the elegant, sweet fruit, with good acidity. This
is a beautiful, expressive Pinot Noir with enough weight to go the
distance. 95/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti Grands-Echézeaux 2004
Fantastic perfume: lively, forward aromatics. Quite fresh with
an appealing green character to the very spicy fruit. The palate
is open with lovely fresh elegant green notes under the red
fruits. Long, persistent spicy finish with good acidity here.
There’s real potential here. 94/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti Romanée St Vivant 2004
Firm, focused, spicy nose is tight with nice red fruit
aromatics. The palate has a firm, tight spicy structure with
dense, fresh red fruits, good acidity and firm but elegant
tannins. Huge potential for future development, but it’s
sleeping right now. 96/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti Richebourg 2004
Thrilling, open red berry and cherry fruit nose is fresh and
lively with great purity and a green spicy edge. The palate has
great concentration and assertive, green-edged cherry and berry
fruit. Lovely long spicy finish. A vivid, forward style. 94/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti La Tâche 2004
Delightfully perfumed with a spicy, roasted oak edge to the
bright cherryish fruit. There’s warmth and richness here. The
palate has a supple elegant texture and lots of ripe, pure fruit.
There’s some firm structure underneath all this, with great
length, concentration and purity. 96/100
Domaine de la Romanée Conti Romanée Conti 2004
Aromatically pure and focused with subtle spicy warmth.
Multifaceted and complex with a whole array of aromas, all pulling
together. Fruit, spice, tar and chocolate emerge. The palate is
fruity and dense with a brightness and a hint of green, together
with some tannin. Dense, broad and focused with real length and a
lovely tannic structure. Special. 97/100
Domaine de la
Romanee Conti releases
2001,
2002, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2008
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