Deep and dark aromas, seems like tree-bark. Lots of structure yet there’s a nice interplay with floral notes in the mouth. After the 2000 this seems less ripe, the tannin still has much to say. Superb length – bravo!
Comments for this entry
Romanée-Conti
1966 Romanée-Conti Echézeaux
2000 Romanée-Conti Bâtard-Montrachet
The forward nose delivers a whiff of iodine over many savoury notes. Plenty of texture here, the acidity remains rather understated. Fruit seems to be of the preserved variety – some pear perhaps – that said, this is a savoury and very mineral wine which has little to do with fruit. Interesting but not a wine I would covet.
2000 Romanée-Conti Echézeaux
1999 Romanée-Conti Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru
1959 Romanée-Conti Echézeaux
Medium-plus colour, both deeper and younger looking than the Bonnes-Mares. The nose also has much more depth of an obvious oak note. Soft and concentrated with just a slight lift of the acidity. Apparently much more compact in the mid-palate than the Bonnes-Mares but with equal length. This is clearly a ‘younger’ and more powerful wine but just a little less enticing and balanced than the Bonnes-Mares today. Re-reading this sounds harsh, but it was a very good wine indeed that I’d be happy for you to open for me
2005 Romanée-Conti Echézeaux
A heavy nose of ample cream-edged fruit and new oak melds well with a fairly forward smoky, stemmy note. The plate lacks for a little poise with a ‘whoosh’ of fruit that is admittedly borne on lovely acidity. There’s plenty of oak on the finish too – though it’s a long finish. The scent clings well to the glass. Overall the aromatics, and to a certain extent the flavours too, are rather sweet, facile and vanilla-oak edged – indeed the ripeness is not even shaded by Romanée-Conti – but it’s characterful and quite athletic too. Needs 2-4 years to shed that facile, oak-influenced character but this has all the material to become really super.
2005 Romanée-Conti Grands-Echézeaux
The aromatics have a much deeper aspect – mulberry and savoury oak, a little spice and only faint stems – much more ‘adult’ than the obviously riper Echézeaux. In the mouth it’s very tight, but at the same time, more intense. The tannin just shows a little astringency in the mid-palate, the impression is just a little less fresh than the Echézeaux too. The finish is a slow diminuendo and less impressive today than that of the Echézeaux. The aromatics are the only dimension that clearly outpoints the previous wine – clinging beautifully to the glass. This has great potential, but today has quite a sullen aspect.
2005 Romanée-Conti Romanée Saint-Vivant
A heavy, heady scent of roses, spice and meat – eventually the smoky stems make a cameo. The palate has the freshness of the Echézeaux, but also the tight concentration of the ‘GE’. The spine of acidity is very lovely, flowing right through the centre of the wine – but everything here is on a low, subtle level. It eventually takes on a slightly plumper impression in the mid-palate, but it mainly remains behind a veil.