Hello all,
On Friday June 6th I was incredibly privileged to attend a DRC and black truffle dinner at Must Winebar here in Perth, Western Australia. I’ve never had the opportunity to taste these wines before but given how much I enjoy red burgundy it wasn’t something I was going to pass up. Safe to say the evening was a smashing success in terms of wines, food, and company. I’m glad I don’t have the opportunity to attend dinners like this regularly as my bank account would suffer terribly. That said, you only live once, and if you get the chance to attend a DRC dinner I highly recommend pulling the trigger. Some of the guests commented that we’ve not had a DRC dinner of this magnitude in WA for nearly 15 years. Fingers crossed it won’t be that long until the next one! Right, onto the night.
We opened with a Krug NV, oysters, and a couple other finger foods whilst waiting for everyone to arrive. That said I suspect most of us had our attention on the bottles around the room.
This was the first thing I saw when I arrived.
Along the wall of the back of the room there was also a small lineup awaiting.
Here’s a bit of a close up on the big guns.
Safe to say there was plenty of glassware on hand.
Well, let’s get into it! Basically we did four brackets, starting with the Montrachet, moving to the Duvault-Blochets, then to the Echezeaux, Grands-Echezeaux, and Richebourg, and finishing with the La Tache mini vertical. Each bracket was matched with a truffle laden dish.
First bracket
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Montrachet 2008 - Very smokey nose. Spice, flint/struck match. Quite a complex bouquet. Very intriguing. Incredibly elegant palette with good fruit intensity. Smokey aftertaste but the oak influence isn’t obtrusive. More fruit on the back palette. Exceptional length and acidity.
Seared Esperance scallop, roast pork belly, caramelised cauliflower puree, kipfler chips, Manjimup black truffles.
Second bracket
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Vonse-Romanee Cuvee Duvault-Blochet 1er Cru 2009 - Quite a fruit laden nose when compared to the '08. Hints of spice as well. On the palette there’s good spice, heaps of fruit and balance. Excellent length and great acidity. Definitely singing on the night. Almost rich when compared to the '08.
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Vonse-Romanee Cuvee Duvault-Blochet 1er Cru 2008 - Easily the more austere of the two. That said it did open up more as time passed. On the palette it’s much more structural with fine tannin and finesse. Good length.
Poached White Rocks veal, Manjimup black truffle aioli, picked radish, grains.
Third bracket
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Echezeaux 2010 - Almost sappy nose along with spice. It’s quite fragrant but fruit isn’t incredibly pronounced on the nose when compared to the spice and floral aromatics. Really an exceptional nose. Upon tasting this wine is a lesson in finesse. Sappy, super fine tannin, amazing length and acidity. With more time in glass beautiful fruit characteristics develop on the palette.
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Grands-Echezeaux 2009 - Very spicy nose, opens beautifully with lots of fruit. Very expressive in the glass. Fruit currently dominates the palette, especially on the front. Superfine tannin, this wine is just amazing once it unwound in the glass. Wonderful length. Excellent overall.
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Richebourg 2007 - Hints of salinity on the nose to me. After more air it’s nose is quite elegant and fine. Probably the prettiest nose of all the wines on the night. The palette is incredibly elegant, much like the nose it’s the most restrained and pretty of the group. Superfine lingering tannin and good length.
Duck consomme ‘cappuccino’, truffel foam & brioche.
Fourth bracket
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache 2010 - INCREDIBLY large nose. Very muscular and powerful, smokey even. That said on the palette there is amazing elegance, sappiness, beautiful fruit, and length that blows you away. Definitely the biggest wine of the evening to my palette. Showing exceptionally well for it’s youth and is still tightly wound. Easily my wine of the night and I suspect most in the room felt the same. While we didn’t outright vote, fact of the matter is long after all other glasses were finished most still had some of this wine in the glass and couldn’t keep their nose out of it.
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache 2009 - Corked. Ah well, you had to expect one, right?
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache 2008 - Quite a subdued nose. With more time in the glass it unwound a bit to display some fruit characters. The palette had exceptional clarity and beauty, searing acidity and fine tannin. Exceptional length. Easily more restrained when compared to the '10. It’s drinking well but has much more life ahead of it.
Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache 2004 - A substitute to replace the corked '09. The nose was quite subdued but still complex and satisfying. The palette had good fruit, balance, length and elegance. No greenness like some other '04s according to the group. For what’s meant to be a not so great vintage it’s a phenomenal wine.
Roast dry-aged Butterfield beef sirloin & cheek croquette, wild mushrooms, Jerusalem artichokes, Brussels sprouts, black truffle jus.
Finally, I put together a panoramic of my view for the night. Seriously, I’d love to be back there now.
