Domaine de la Romanée-Conti: The 2019s

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JUNE 30, 2022

This year’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti tasting of the 2019s was quite poignant. It was the first public event I attended post lockdown; curiously the 2020 edition was the last I participated in pre-COVID. It was also Aubert de Villaine’s final year presenting the wines as Co-Manager of the domaine, a position he has held since 1974. Beyond the wines, there was a palpable feeling of gravitas in the room, a distinct sense that something of historical significance was taking place.

For my part, I was delighted to be super-punctual. Two years ago I barely arrived before the tasting started. I made a valiant attempt to sneak into my assigned seat unnoticed, but was not successful. So, things started better. Also in attendance this year were Bertrand de Villaine, Aubert’s nephew, and Perrine Fenal, Lalou Bize-Leroy’s daughter, the two new Co-Managers of the domaine. “Good to see you are on time; you have a reputation for being late,” Bertrand de Villaine says as he introduces to me to Perrine Fenal, who I am meeting for the first time. Great, I am thinking to myself.

The format is as it has been for the last few years. The domaine presents the new vintage to a group of about a dozen or so writers in a private, sit-down tasting hosted by importer Wilson-Daniels, who has represented the wines since 1979. It’s a great way to go through the wines at a leisurely pace. As always, a few library bottles are added for further reference. We taste through the entire range, including the new Corton-Charlemagne, the rarely seen Vosne 1er Cru and the Montrachet, which is not often a part of this tasting in other countries, most notably in the UK.

The complete range of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2019s.

“It’s my last year presenting the new vintage,” de Villaine says in his opening remarks, clearly sensing the importance of the moment. The man has had an extraordinary life, including presiding over the domaine and its many shareholders over what has unquestionably been its greatest period ever. Just as importantly, de Villaine has made massive contributions to the reputation of Burgundy as a region, among other achievements in a brilliant career that has spanned seven decades.

“Winter was not especially wet” de Villaine explains as we start go through the wines. “Heat arrived in May. By then, the vines were already lacking in water. Irregular weather resulted in a drawn out flowering that took three weeks to complete. We had quite a bit of millerandage. As a comparison, in 2018 flowering took just three days. So, going in, we knew we were looking at smaller crop, with about a 20% loss in yields. We had heat events at the end of June, in July during veraison and then in August. A break arrived in September, but by then we were already at 13-13.5% natural alcohol. We could have waited for a bit more phenolic ripeness, but we wanted to avoid overripeness, so we began picking on September 14. It is an unusual year in which the Montrachet, which often comes in at the end of the harvest, was picked at the beginning, on the 15th.”

I vividly recall the first two heat events, as I was in Burgundy at the time. The late June spikes took place during the Musique et Vin festival. Temperatures were stifling to the point that even air conditioning in hotels and restaurants could not keep up. It was much the same story a few weeks later.