TN: 2008 Domaine De La Romanee-Conti Tasting

WINE TALK
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2008 DOMAINE DE LA ROMANEE-CONTI TASTING - Beltramo’s, Menlo Park Ca. (5/18/2011)

Went to an amazing tasting of all the current release DRC’s at Beltramo’s in Menlo Park Ca…my first true experience with these wines. All I can say is WOW! As soon as I smelled the first glass of the Echezaux, I knew these were going to be something special. The nose was so exotic and captivating…they all had that exotic, VERY dusty spiced nose…almost like the glasses were full of dust in them before they poured. It was like walking into a mahogany wood works shop full of sawdust, and the smell of the burning hot saw as it cuts through the wood…or something of-the-like. What pure and fresh, complex and exotically beautiful wines! I can only hope to one day taste them again.

  • 2008 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Echezeaux Grand Cru
    Amazing nose! As were all the 2008’s…dusty exotic wood spiced, berry liquour-like, smoked cherry. Bright and fresh crushed red berry, pomegranate fruit in the mouth that’s pure and alive with sour skin acidity, and a healthy dose of minerals. Lighter in body, but doesn’t lack in flavor! Should gain with age. (95 pts.)
  • 2008 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands-Echezeaux - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru
    As with the Echezeaux, the nose is to die for…dusty cherry spice, exotic wood#reminds me of the dusty air in a mahogany wood works shop!#, licorice and raspberry puree. A little richer than the Echezeaux, maybe less acid, but still good tartness. Great complexities of ripe strawberries, dried roses and leaves. But that nose…that nose! Simply outstanding! (95 pts.)
  • 2008 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée St. Vivant - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru
    Same amazing dusty nose as the Echezeaux’s…but I got some coffee in this. Darker fruit which seemed creamier, like a latte…smoked plums, black cherry, raspberry, licorice, vanilla. Probably the least open of the group, and the one not giving up all the goods just yet. This could turn out to have amazing complexity in a few years. (94 pts.)
  • 2008 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Richebourg Grand Cru
    Oh man…super spicy dusty nose…very exotic…could smell all day! This is the one that held the nose the longest of the tasting. Palate coating bright and fresh red fruit, big minerals, green tobacco leaves, licorice…well balanced with perfect roundness, yet promising much more in age, with a slight tight finish. This, along with the La Tache, was my top wine. Amazing! (98 pts.)
  • 2008 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, La Tâche Grand Cru
    The darkest, denser wine of the night…same exotic dusty nose which seemed deeper, more smoked. Unbelievable wine! But a sleeping giant. Richer fresh crushed dark berry fruit, sassafras, stems, smoked meat, compact minerals, power…all just waiting to burst out, but not just yet. You can really tell this will be something special in 10+ years. Amazing! (98 pts.)
  • 2008 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Romanée-Conti Grand Cru
    This was the “prettiest” most balanced wine of the group. Mind boggling nose of exotic dusty floral spice and licorice, fresh flowers and minerals. Silk balance in the mouth, with fresh crushed creamy berries, rhubarb, dried florals, rocks and dirt. So tasty and pleasing in the mouth that you never want to swallow it. Little tart and stems on the finish, showing that this will be even better as it ages out. Heaven sent… (97 pts.)
  • 2008 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Montrachet Grand Cru
    The most anticipated wine of the tasting for me. As soon as I put my nose in the glass I said…“are you kidding me???” “How rich is this nose?” The color was a brilliant metallic yellow, with a green tinge. The nose was HUGE…buttery and spiced tropical fruits, smoky butterscotch, exotic honey, lemons and minerals. In the mouth, the fruit is full, rich, sweet…yet this huge wall of minerals and spice hit you as well. The fruit is really sweet(some botrytis?), a lot sweeter than I thought it would be. So complex…toasted marshmallow, green apple skins, lemon honey butter, spice. To be honest…there was just a tad bit more buttery popcorn and sweet fruit to this than I wanted. But with all that wonderful fresh acidity and ton of minerality…I can see how that fruit needs to be that rich…so that in 10+ years this thing will be off the charts. Could go three digits. Unreal! (96 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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I dream of getting a chance to do this one day.

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Drool…who do you have to sleep with to get invited to one of these???

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Brian, do you happen to remember the total number of bs for each wines ?

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On the bottles it says:

Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru 7.899
Echezeaux 9.874
Grands Echezeaux 6.453
Romanee St-Vivant 9.458
Richebourg 6.230
La Tache 11.560
Romanee-Conti 3.151
Montrachet 3.524

I take it those are in 1000’s?

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the LT number is near what they had for 2003, which ain’t much! I think 2002 had approx 20k bottles for context.

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How was the 1er Cru?

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That’s the only one Beltramo’s wasn’t allocated…so no note on that. There were about 40 people, and they opened 3 bottles of each. About a 1.5 oz pour per.

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Price of admission?

I saw your notes on CT and was expecting something here. Glad to see it. I got to do this with the 1997s and I still remember it well. I was fortunate to see the Montrachet twice more since then and to even enjoy an entire bottle of the La Tache, thanks to a willing trade with Alan W.

The production on the 2008s at DRC was very low. My local guy’s allocation was half of a normal year. 2003 was another low-production year, as has been mentioned. While this may not be a vintage of the century, any future seekers of a back-vintage value play on a DRC will have a hard time finding these to buy due to this low production.

Keith, it surprises me that you’ve never seen an at-release horizontal opportunity. I would think it would be something your market would support, either with a group of enthusiasts pooling their resources or with a for-fee tasting from something like Acker.

Cheers,
fred

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Nope, never seen it. The only ones I’m aware of that have occurred here are the freebies for the press.

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quick math based on my pricing, you could do this for $500/head at 1.25 oz pours for 16 people – give or take. All the wines including Monty, but except RC.

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That’s about right. My recollection from the email announcement a while ago was $550.

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pffft. Who needs chardonnay at an event like that?

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It was $550 per…and worth every penny! The Monty was well praised.

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Buzz. We gonna drink like this when I’m up in Fresno in a few weeks? :smiley:

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so you’re out?

15 spots left.

who’s in?

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Thanks for the notes. I was wondering whether I had spent well when buying my small allocation of DRC this year, seems I had no need to worry.

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Good stuff. I’m in the camp that thinks '08 reds can be pretty special. Here are my notes on the UK presentation of these wines back in January:

Echezeaux 2008 Domaine de la Romanee Conti
Immediately very scented and pure with complex floral and musk aromas. Very pretty wine without the darker and more rustic liquorice element I often find in Echezeaux. The oak is very much in a supporting / framing role. Silky and suave palate texture. The acidity is bright but not at all strict, as '08 can be. A seductive and elegant wine that’s fine-textured and even delicate on the finish. 17.5

Grands Echezeaux '08 DRC
Greater intensity and aromatic breadth than the opening wine. The nose is very expressive after some time - incense, spice, dark-toned fruit with some smoke and toasty oak. An extremely sleek palate entry is followed by almost penetrating intensity of flavour. Somehow sappy and mouthwatering without being noticeably acidic. The finish is rich and heady with an almost saline mineral cut. I was pretty much floored by this. 18.5

Richebourg '08 DRC
Very flamboyant, forward aromatics. Seems to emphasise the rich, dark fruit elements rather than the spice and scent of the Ech and GE. Aromas are heady and complex. Sweet and full on the palate, flashy almost. Has a fine, silken tannic structure but not quite the tension and multi-layered complexity of the GE. There’s some serious grip on the finish and the finish is extrmely long, promising great potential and suggesting I’m under-estimating it. 18

Romanee St Vivant '08 DRC
Extremely shy and reticent at first. With time and elusive perfume develops - complex and floral. There’s great precision and detail here. Beautiful, soaring aromatics emerge on the mid-palate. It’s lithe and really fine-spun yet with a riveting tension to it. Rich spice and incense notes dominate the finish. This is stunning. 18.5

La Tache '08 DRC
I think I missed something here. I had the last of a bottle, which was barely a lip-wetting quantity, then another bottle was produced. My first thought was that it was pretty reductive. I’m sure I just caught it in a bad spot and look forward to seeing what Neal and others thought…
Dark and stern on the nose. Closed and extremely hard to read - the most brooding wine of the morning. On the palate the tannin is firm yet velvet textured. There’s some ripe, cherry fruit and clear intensity but it’s not giving much up. Aristocratic and pretty austere this morning…?18-?

Romanee Conti '08 DRC
Infinitely more open and generous on the nose. Rich, ripe and layered with exotic spice, musk and the merest whiff of toasty oak. Intriguing reductive / mineral notes too. Has a fabulous cashmere texture to the tannins, it’s fine boned and intense yet light on its feet. It’s very complex and continues to evolve in the glass and on the mid palate, not wanting to be pinned down. This defines ‘light and shade’ and is classy in the extreme. 18.5+

So there we have it. I was super impressed by the GE and RSV. Both yesterday and on the previous occasion when I (blind) tasted the DRC line up (the 2000s in '05) I’ve noticed that I struggle with La Tache. I’ve always been told that, in the early stages, RC is tricky to read and LT seems to out-shine it but this doesn’t chime with my experience. The finesse and class of RC seems to shine and I never love LT as much as I’d like to.

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Who spit? [snort.gif]

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I’m game if you really want to do it.
Would prefer the RC to the Montrachet tho…