not really plural for La Tâche, but we did open 4 last night to say goodbye to Fred. We opened 1989, 2001, 2003, and 2006. Fred also brought a beautiful aged bottle of Krug NV that stole the show, as whites often do. At first, 89’s bouquet w sous bois and Asian spices soared, but the other wines caught up and it was like a horse race where one horse leads, then falls back as another takes the lead. Two hours in, 03 and 06 closed their doors and said good night, putting up a fierce wall of tannin that shut them down. Prior to that, the layered deep complexity of 03 wowed me, not roasted or alcoholic, but just deep and dense. 06 was lovely, again soy and Asian spice, violets. 2001 led the pack for a bit, also a beautiful wine nowhere near apogee.
The other boys will pile on w more detailed notes–as usual, I was busy eating. Bluegold was a great venue w $25/b corkage and super food.
We will miss Fred’s generosity and orchestration of these super wine dinners but it’s Florida’s gain.
I took individual notes but I like your overview much better!
Thank you guys for your generosity and great evening. I have 8 more bottles of those old grand cuvées and would not hesitate to open them for La Tache ! Seriously though, those old krugs are just so good.
I really enjoyed how different and unique each wine was. The underlying nature was the same but each wine showed better than their reported vintage characteristic. Especially 03 and 06.
1989 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru (10/10/2018)
This wine is in it’s tertiary phase. Nose of black tea, soy, forest leaves. There is a nice tertiary sweetness and ole nty of sweet and savory goodness on the palate. A perfectly resolved wine in a sweet plateau. There is no substitute for age. My WOTN.
2001 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru (10/10/2018)
Starts with that characteristic 01 DRC spice, stem, and floral nose. A hint of underlying game and meat. Tart red fruit and sour plum on the nose and palate. This is much more open than another bottle from several months ago. Just beginning to enter a drinking period I believe.
2003 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru (10/10/2018)
What an interesting wine! No 2003 heat whatsoever. There is an interesting meat and animale aroma to this wine. The underlying profile is pure La Tache. We commented it was Rhône-like not because of the heat but because of the animale/brett/merdeness of it. I really enjoyed this wine because it was so different. As the night progressed this also clamped down like the 06.
2006 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche- France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru (10/10/2018)
Double decanted 3 hours prior. I almost didn’t decant because this showed a pretty red strawberry fruit with a hint of spice already. A surprising amount of sediment fine and chunky given the age. Filtered the remaining sediment through fine mesh gold coffee filter: the fruit is dark and smooth at the core and finish long and perfumed. Very nice finish. Tasting notes to follow. I hope this doesn’t shut down.
Updated (at dinner):
Surprisingly open. This was surprisingly pure with notes of crushed strawberries, spice, and sour cherries. Fruit is more red without the sediment. The nose continued to evolve with occasional hints of mint and a touch of vanilla oak. This became more shut down after 5 hours of double decant and 2.5 hours in the glass. A surprise to the upside with excellent potential!
much better notes than mine, Fred. I had forgotten to mention how evident the stems were and the animale of 03. All four were very dark-fruited, very layered,
and deep complete wines. Finish on the 89 was incredibly long and it had superb sweetness of fruit.
These wines just need 3 decades or more!
Going to retaste the 03 remnants tonight with my wife.
This tasting sounds like a real task, well done fellas. What a treat to taste multiple vintages over dinner with friends. Fred good luck on your move to Miami.
It is from the grape as expressed from the site. The oak spices tend to present in more of an embracing, edges of the palate way, while the inherent spice comes through not just intertwined with the fruit qualities but essential and inherent to the beverage.
Tried a 04 Tache recently, not the most amount of stuffing but elegant and complex. The balance wavered as the wine evolved in air.
Plural is les Taches .
I would have assumed the 2003 to be the best bottle . We had the 89 recently but I was not impressed . However , drinking a bottle of wine over a few hours is something we rarely do …
I was referring more to the 01 nose of DRC in particular which seems to have this floral and sandlewood spice quality to he ones I’ve tried (Ech, GR, RSV).
! Seriously though, those old krugs are just so good.
