Richebourg

WINE TALK
1

Kickstarted Monday Table last night with a decent look at Richebourg.

Champagne

2002 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Rare: Drinking wonderfully well. There are toast/brioche notes along with gently exotic fruits. It has a suggestion of peach and loads of spice. It is rich and complex, with relatively high dosage, but balanced perfectly by minerally acidity. Length is superb.

1985 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut: Complex aromatics of truffle, forest floor, grilled nuts and orchard fruits. It is rich and powerful and fully developed. It is cut by lemony acidity and is very long and dry.


Richebourg
1995 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg, Grand Cru: Whilst not affected by fully blown tca, the wine suffered from a bit of a mouldy cork. It was a bit dusty, with some mid-weight red and black fruits. Sadly nowhere near its best.

1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg, Grand Cru: DRC made near perfect ‘99’s and this Richebourg is no exception. It is so deeply pitched and youthful. There’s an intense core of dark cherry fruit. It has some light florals and a hint of black tea. It is direct and detailed, compact and so long. The wine envelops the mouth with luscious, spicy flavours and every sip unlocks something special. Too young but so good.

2007 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg, Grand Cru: Beautifully proportioned and balanced. Shows plenty of sandalwood spice to the nose along with perfectly ripe red and black fruits. It has good depth and drive, with Richebourg power, yet is light on its feet and ethereal. The finish is expansive and loaded with floral spice. In a nice place right now.

2015 Mongeard-Mugneret Richebourg, Grand Cru: An exotic and ebullient nose of dried flowers, ginger spice, aniseed, passionfruit skins and dark plum. It is tight, dense and powerful. It builds through the palate and finishes with great breadth and persistence. Far too young but thoroughly enjoyable.

2005 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Richebourg, Grand Cru: Some wilder, musky/animale notes. Deep, dark and brooding, with some sarsaparilla root and aniseed. Really powerful and dense, great drive. Barely evolved and carried by perfectly ripe, yet substantial tannins.

2005 Mongeard-Mugneret Richebourg, Grand Cru: A bit of barrel toast and menthol showing on the nose. With air there are tangy red and black fruits and plenty of Asian spice. It is fleshy and finishes with good authority and plenty of persistence.

2013 Domaine Jean Grivot Richebourg, Grand Cru: An effusive, floral nose. There are notes of plum skin, cherry and aniseed too. It is dense with good minerally detail. It is sappy and unctuous, with great drive through the palate and really fans out on the finish.

2010 Domaine Anne Gros Richebourg, Grand Cru: Complex aromatics of roasted meats, violets, black cherry and gingerbread. It is luscious, with a sweet core of fruit. Tannins are ripe and it is layered with black fruit flavours trimmed with spice. In a nice place now.

2002 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Richebourg, Grand Cru: A touch of gunpowder and salty plum to the aroma. It is layered with fruit in the mouth, with a penetrating core of cherry and blood plum. Structural elements are relatively relaxed and there are some gorgeous florals. It is not a big Richebourg, but a beautifully balanced one, drinking at the top of its game.

1976 Charles Vienot Richebourg, Grand Cru: The bottle and colour were in great shape. The nose had a hint of chocolatey oxidation. There were also notes of black tea and plant matter. It had reasonable depth, vinous sweetness and good persistence with loads of earth to the finish.


Sauternes

2013 Château d’Yquem, Sauternes: Fresh and precise, with notes of orange peel, candied citrus, vanilla and lavender. Its not an overtly sweet Yquem but is exquisitely balanced and proportioned. Every sip is a joy and the finish so energetic that it invites another one.

2005 Château Rieussec, Sauternes: A bit more advanced than other bottles I have had of this. Smells of lanolin, honey and candied peel. Sweet, lush and layered in the mouth with good flavour intensity and a long finish, with a suggestion of mango and crème brulee.

3 Likes
2

Great notes . So , your favorite was the 1999 ?

3

Thanks Herwig.

The '99 was indeed my favourite.

Regards
Jeremy

4

As always fun to read–not to mention envy-producing:) Back in the day, I grabbed various Richebourgs that were still reasonably affordable, none of these producers. Some are '95’s; my questions: any other recent experience with Richebourg in this vintage? Hope for it generally?

5

1995 and 1996 have hard tannins and many have a note of wet iron. Almost like they were all produced in Corton. Very rustic.

1 Like
6

What, no Holmsian puns??? I would have expected at least an Embarrassment of Richesbourg …

1 Like
7

great wines described beautifully. I agree re 99 though probably because it was my one experience at DRC tasting out of barrel these wines (in 2001) and it sent me on a quest to buy every bottle I could find.

8

Great notes Jeremy. Looks like Mongeard has really upped its game recently. I had a bottle of their '19 GE last week that was stellar. Unfortunately the Richebourg is selling at twice the price.

I have owned a whopping 2 bottles of '99 DRC Richebourg, drunk both years ago and they were outstanding then. I could only imagine what they would be like with more bottle age.

Btw, the '02 Piper Rare is one of my favorites and always a crowd pleaser.

9

Unfortunately it’s more than that. I picked up a few GE at $235 last month, but the Rich is at $600. I got 17 and 18 in the $450 range and this thread reminded me I’ve been waiting for an offer on the 2019 at a better price, but it seems it’s not coming. I picked up a couple Rich today so I don’t miss it, but hoping to find a better price somewhere down the line.

10

Yeah, I paid $269 last month from MacArthurs and Schneiders for the GE. I could not justify the $600 for Rich given just the extra point rating and how well the GE was drinking, although I may regret that someday.

11

Great notes Jeremy! I remember tasting that '10 A Gros Riche at the winery right before bottling - it was a top 5 wine of all that I tasted that trip - yum stuff. CHEERS

12

A beautiful set of wines and notes, Jeremy. Thanks for the insight into the '99 DRCs. I was thinking of opening a few but maybe it’s just too early still.

13

Hi Vince, I was going to work Bjorn Richebourg into it somehow, but that would have caused a racquet with the Burg cognoscenti on this board because it would have been so bad.

1 Like
14

That '10 is drinking beautifully now Jonathan.

Jerry, the '99’s are moving at glacial pace, but there is still a lot of pleasure to be derived now.

1 Like
15

Living off the fat of the land there. Was there food? Bring a proper slaying with your post.

On a more sanguine note, you seem positive on the Grivot. Am I reading that correctly? It is the one Richebourg I get offered in quantity of late and I have laid a few away. Maybe a birthday splurge in the making there.

Cheers,
fred

16

yeah, Jerry, let’s crack ‘em open.

17

Yeah Jerry…now that the world is open, and I don’t have any 1999 DRC, I’ll bring some older Pappy Rye for post-dinner. Please.