Although primarily a Bordeaux lover, I was nevertheless delighted to visit the Domaine de la Romanée Conti on Wednesday.
This was the highlight of a ten-day trip to Burgundy, during which snow never left the ground.
The domaine’s cellars, located a stone’s throw from the church in Vosne-Romanée, are only indicated by tiny lettering below the doorbell.
My father had visited here decades ago and I have been lucky enough to enjoy 3 vintages at table: 1961, 1962, and 1969. I am unlikely to do so again. By way of explanation, let me say that I saw a bottle of 2005 La Romanée-Conti last month at Harrods for… 9,000 pounds. Even if you allow for the premium at that prestigious store, this is still very much out of my league…
I visited the domaine with two Australian friends (one, an importer, the other, a producer) as well as a friend from Brittany, a French distributor, and a Russian woman.
We were welcomed by the Technical Director, M. Cuvelier, and went on a tour with M. Bernard Noblet, Cellar Master.
The first thing that must be said about DRC – from a Bordelais perspective – is that all honor is given to the wine, rather than the associated trappings (magnificent buildings, marble floors, attractive hostesses, etc.). In fact, there is little to distinguish the somewhat cramped facilities from any number of less-exalted domaines.
I found this emphasis on the wine to the detriment of all else very refreshing. It is not unlike the feeling one has visiting Pétrus, as opposed to the big guns in the Médoc.
M. Noblet is a very tall man with a slow, ironic way of expressing himself and a warm Burgundian accent. His father worked at DRC before him and to say he knows the wines intimately would be an understatement.
In presenting the domaine’s 26 hectares of vineyards, M. Noblet mentioned Bâtard Montrachet (maximum 900 bottles a year). He said this was “PNG” and then went on talking. When he stopped for a moment, I asked him what this mysterious abbreviation meant. He replied “pour notre gueule”, a slang expression meaning “for the domaine owners and employees alone”. Very much a lady’s man, M. Noblet frequently compared wine and women, bringing a 
to the (bilingual) Russian lady’s face on occasion. For example, when I asked him when one of the wines would reach its peak he replied – as I ought to have expected – “You know, wine is like a woman, when it is young…” so on and so forth.
DRC has been fully biodynamic since 2008 after experiments on 8 hectares proved that this made the wines more expressive. Prior to that, all vineyards had been farmed organically. This quality-oriented measure has reduced yields considerably, from 25-30 hectoliters per hectare to an average of 18. This is in keeping with the pre-phylloxera average of 15-20.
The red wines undergo 3-6 days of cold pre-fermentation maceration. The stems are systematically included. M. Noblet refers to them as the “skeleton” of the grape bunches and says that part of the misunderstanding involving their inclusion is because these stems must be treated very gently to release just the right amount of desired components.
We sampled seven wines from the 2008 vintage, which I had been tasting all week. This only confirmed my impressions that this was, at the very least, a good year.
M. Noblet compared it to 1998 and said it was not so much the fine weather that saved the day (a familiar story), as a north wind that dried, aerated, and concentrated the grapes, as well as putting an end to incipient gray rot.
Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Duvault Blochet was a very pretty wine. Medium-deep in color, it had a lovely, slightly spicy nose. The wine was well-balanced with vibrant acidity on the palate but, at this stage, I liked the nose better than the taste, which is probably perfectly normal. It is nevertheless is very much of a class act and possesses, quite honestly, many of the hallmarks of the domaine’s more famous wines.
Duvault-Blochet can be considered the 2nd wine of La Romanée Conti, and is not made in all vintages.
Echézeaux was darker in color with a very seductive candied fruit bouquet. It showed power, fine texture, and good grip on the palate. Broad-based, but well-focused, it was one of the highlights of the tasting and possibly represents the best “value for money” – if such a thing exists.
Getting away from the “wine as woman” theme, my notes say “a muscular man in a tight suit”.
M. Noblet, however, returning to his favorite theme, referred to the wine as “feminine and delicate”. He also spoke of oak ageing as “un support, comme un soutien-gorge pour une belle poitrine” (or “something that provides support for, and highlights the wine’s beauty, like a bra for a nice pair of breasts”).
This Echézeaux definitely had a velvety texture but, in retrospect, this velvet was not quite as fine as the wines to follow. It was nevertheless one of the ones I liked best.
Grands-Echézeaux had an equally fine color, but was closed-in on the nose, which displayed a musky quality. M. Noblet said that this was a sign of reduction, and would disappear over time. The wine was more structured on the palate, with a spicy quality. It appeared to have more tannin and length.
(At this point, I will leave off describing the colors, which were similar. Furthermore, I have been firmly admonished in Burgundy not to consider color a major aspect in evaluating a wine…)
Romanée-Saint-Vivant had a suave nose of oak and terroir. The palate had lots going on, and was elegant in a way reminiscent of the Echézeaux, but with a more expressive aftertaste. M. Noblet described the slight hardness on the tail end as “un coup de griffe”(in the context, I think he meant, “a scratch a woman might give you with her fingernails at the end of lovemaking”, but I didn’t ask him to elucidate…).
Richebourg was reserved on the nose, but with subtle hints of wildflowers, and this aromatic quality followed through onto the palate, which displayed more power than any of the previous wines. M. Noblet compared it, in this respect, to the Grands Echézeaux. What is amazing is the way this power “winds down” and evolves seamlessly into a long, tight, seductive aftertaste.
The following two wines were a clear step up from the previous, as good as they were.
I did not spit.
La Tâche was brilliant. As is often the case with truly great wines, it defied analysis… The bouquet was very fresh with mysterious black fruit nuances and the palate was splendid. M. Noblet said that many people prefer it to La Romanée Conti. At this stage, 08 La Tâche is a little angular and foursquare, but has an astonishingly long, velvety, textured flavor with a quality I’ll describe as “tarry”. M. Noblet says it would be best to wait at least 15 years to enjoy its full potential.
La Romanée-Conti was reserved and brooding on the nose, but bright and demonstrative on the palate with a softness that is not of this world. There is also a touch of spice and a slight coolness, a menthol-like quality that accompanies its faultless development. There is something ethereal here despite the sensuous, silky mouth feel. The tasting pleasure seems to come in waves, multi-faceted.
We then went to another cellar to taste 3 older wines, which were all served blind, which is apparently the way things are always done at DRC.
One of the 6 people in our group correctly identified the first wine as Grands Echézeaux, but we were all wrong as to the vintage, thinking it might be 1998. It turned out to be 1999.
The color was quite deep and I found earth and violets on the nose, plus a biscuity and funky wild Pinot quality I much enjoyed. The taste was rich and satisfying with great mouth feel, but plenty of good acidity. M. Noblet figures that 1999 is about half-way to its peak. He describes 1999 as a rare vintage combining both quantity and quality. Part-owner Aubert de Villaine said it is the best vintage since he has been involved with the Domaine.
The next mystery wine prompted a series of wrong guesses. I thought it was Richebourg, and the consensus with regard to vintage seemed to be 1995. It turned out to be 1990 Grands Echézeaux. The nose was raisiny and foxy, but who knows how it will be in another decade… The wine was much more forthcoming and impressively powerful on the palate, where the raisiny quality persisted.
I asked about decanting such wines and received a reproving look from M. Noblet, who compared this to… rape. However, he is all for the “Audouze method” of opening the bottle several hours beforehand.
The last wine, “the aperitif”, was a 1995 Bâtard Montrachet. This was medium-gold in color and had a deep, buttery bouquet with hints of honey. I really loved the palate, a medley of butterscotch, hazelnut, and things too hard to pin down 
. My friends, who drink only Burgundy, told me that they preferred the cleaner, more precise style of, let’s say, Leflaive, but I just loved this wine, which is delicious to drink now.
Half a year ago, DRC purchased 2½ hectares of Le Corton from Prince Florent de Mérode. While visiting Domaine Bonneau du Matray, M. Le Bault de la Morinière said what a good thing this was for the whole appellation which, he feels, does not have the reputation it deserves.
Best regards,
Alex R.