2023 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti: Through the DarkBY ANTONIO GALLONI | MARCH 12, 2026The annual tasting of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s new
releases provided a terrific opportunity to taste the domaine’s complete range
and check in on a few older wines as well. Co-Managers Bertrand de Villaine and
Perrine Fenal presented the vintage and wines, continuing a tradition that goes
back several decades.The 2023 reds are dark, powerful wines, surprisingly so for
a year marked by an unusual combination of large grapes, high juice yields and
elevated ripeness. Even with all that intensity, the wines still express plenty
of site character, the single most important attribute when it comes to
Burgundy. The 2023s needed a few hours to open, more than any recent vintage I
can remember. Initially quite brooding and tannic, the 2023s started to show
more brightness and Pinot character after about two hours. These are wines for
readers who have time on their side.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1773336331298-DRC+Cover_Vinous.jpg">All the reds come in above 14% alcohol, a rare occurrence
here. La Tâche is the most opulent of the wines. It boasts off-the-charts
textural richness and shocking intensity. Sugars were very slow to finish,
which necessitated racking the wine into tank to allow fermentations to
conclude naturally. Richebourg sits at the opposite end of the stylistic spectrum
within the context of the year. It is the most classically Burgundian of the
wines in that it shows notable translucency right out of the gate.

Turning to the whites, the Corton-Charlemagne is
quite exotic, while the Montrachet is utterly sublime. The 2023 Montrachet is
the last wine made before the domaine was forced to take out a third of their
vines. That parcel will remain fallow for three years. A decade or more will likely
pass before fruit is ready to go into the Montrachet bottling. DRC’s Montrachet
is already one of the world’s rarest and most expensive wines. It is about to
become even rarer, and therefore likely more expensive, too. Readers who can
still find bottles would do well to snap them up, especially right now when the
world is, sadly, in a state of turmoil.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1773336388099-DRC+Table+Set_Vinous.jpg">The 2023s in the Vineyard &amp; CellarThe growing season got off to a very cold start.
Temperatures approached the frost danger zone in early April and remained cool
into May, when several rain events brought elevated disease pressure.
Conditions improved in late May, leading to a relatively fast flowering that
took place from May 20th to June 10th. A brief hailstorm
hit Echézeaux, but it does not appear to have been problematic.



Rain and heat episodes alternated in the weeks
that followed. July and August saw a good bit of rain, which led to berries
sizing up and slowed ripening. Disease pressure was a constant theme throughout
this period. Crop thinning to both regulate yield and eliminate underripe
bunches was essential. Temperatures soared at harvest time, causing shrivel on
the vine, sunburn and leading to dangerous conditions for vineyard workers.
Late-season heat spikes are not uncommon in some regions, Napa Valley being an
example, but they are very rare in Burgundy. Sugars soared. Timing of the
harvest and selection in both the field and at the sorting table were
essential. Harvest began on September 5th in Echézeaux and wrapped
up on the 17th in Echézeaux and Grands Echézeaux. Montrachet, which
for decades was brought in last, was picked along with the reds, in the middle
of harvest.The 2023s were vinified with 100% whole
clusters. Malolactic fermentations finished quickly and were completely done by
winter, except the Echézeaux and Corton, which underwent malolactic
fermentation in spring. Wines were racked once during élevage and blended about
a month earlier than was the norm a few years ago. The 2023s were bottled from
January to May 2025.© 2026, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.<hr> You Might Also Enjoy<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/no-alarm-2023-domaine-de-la-romanee-conti-feb-2026">No Alarm: 2023 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti</a>, Neal Martin, February 2026 <a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/future-memories-drc-2022-in-bottle-feb-2025">Future Memories: DRC 2022 In Bottle</a>, Neal Martin, February 2025<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/2022-domaine-de-la-romanee-conti-the-lightness-of-being-mar-2025">2022 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti: The Lightness of Being</a>, Antonio Galloni, March 2025<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/nature-rules-nature-s-rules-drc-2021-in-bottle-feb-2024">Nature Rules/Nature’s Rules: DRC 2021 In Bottle</a>, Neal Martin, February 2024<a target="_blank" href="https://vinous.com/articles/domaine-de-la-romanee-conti-a-survey-of-the-2021s-mar-2024">Domaine de la Romanée Conti: A Survey of the 2021s</a>, Antonio Galloni, March 2024

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