Better Than Water: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2019 in Bottle
BY NEAL MARTIN |
Forget the wine for one minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s DRC, the three letters that make Burgundy nuts swoon. Let’s come to matters fermented later. Dear Vinous readers, please spare a moment for the bottle of still natural mineral water that attends these shindigs. “BELU” is its name. There it stands on the table amongst the parade of Grand Crus feeling slightly out of place, as if it had received an invitation for the wrong party. It feels a sense of pride coming from some distant mountain spring, as fresh as the day it spouted from the earth, natural as can be. It looks askance at the eight bottles of Pinot Noir and asks: Do you sustain every single form of life on Earth?
No. Water does. Without it, we are nothing.
BELU, the accompaniment to Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
Yet none of these attendees seem interested in water. They’re too busy fawning over the wines, holding their glass of La Tâche as if it is the Holy Grail, itching to burst into a jubilant chorus of approval yet, as per instructions, remaining silent so that the room is as noisy as an empty library. Nobody seems interested in rinsing their mouth at this tasting, as if they don’t wish to rid themselves of the lingering afterglow of the wine. Granted, the mineral water does not taste quite as profound. It won’t age over many years. It will not be coveted by the rich and famous and it lacks intoxicating properties. But BELU did a sterling job during the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti tasting. It should be applauded for a job well done. I award it an unofficial 100-points. But now we must focus on the 2019s from the most coveted wine in the world.
After missing last year due to the pandemic, UK agent Corney & Barrow returned in 2022 with their annual tasting, thoughtfully with social-distancing measures, splitting the tasting into two rooms and allocating times where attendees should ring their doorbell. It was a bit like making an appointment at your doctors…
“Dr. Villaine will see you at 10.45am”.
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After missing last year due to the pandemic, the latest bottled vintage of wines from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti were poured in London with their new white from Corton-Charlemagne. What do the 2019s promise for those lucky enough to secure an allocation?
