Life Is Funny Like That: 1999 & 2015 DRC
BY NEAL MARTIN |
The first article that I ever published on the subject of wine was not some breathless puff on a 100-point Chilean Merlot discovered two-for-one down at my local Tesco. Embarrassingly, my first vinous words (not Vinous words) regaled a morning in the company of the recently bottled 1999s from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti at Corney & Barrow back in the mists of time otherwise known as March 2002. That article can still be read on wine-pages.com – I beg you to overlook its amateur prose...I was just beginning. I felt privileged to taste such fabled wines, and never imagined that over ensuing years I would imbibe and write about Domaine de la Romanée-Conti many times. Life is funny like that, isn’t it? But in my mind there was never any chance of a rerun through those 1999s. To congregate those bottles again represents one mouth-watering but prohibitively expensive sitting. I mean, have you seen the price of the 1999 Romanée-Conti – a cool £180,000 per dozen. It probably increased another grand in the time it took me to type those zeros. So I make do with the memories and remain grateful that I have tasted every release since the 1995 vintage. The latest, the 2015s, was one of the domaine’s best.
The usual setting down in the basement at UK agents Corney & Barrow, Aubert de Villaine in the background chatting to Steven Spurrier.
As usual, I was able to grab a few words with Aubert de Villaine, the Gandalf of the Côte d’Or, but with greater powers and shorter hair. He has attended Corney & Barrow’s annual tasting since they were granted exclusivity in 1993 where the domaine unveiled their 1990s. De Villaine commented that his 2015s were showing a little “anger” at being bottled, his poetic way of saying that the wines were discombobulated after being incarcerated in glass. I am not sure if I totally agree with that sentiment. Personally I felt that the wines performed well, except perhaps the La Tâche, which showed a little more stem addition than its siblings. De Villaine offered an intriguing vintage comparison when he suggested that the 2015 and 2016 may ultimately be seen as modern-day counterparts to 1961 and 1962, the former structured and dense, the latter more ethereal and finessed. Despite my own limited experience of those older vintages I can see where he is coming from. I asked him if there was a single cru that currently gives him most pleasure. Aubert singled out Richebourg, which he feels has made enormous strides in recent years. Indeed, it was not so long ago that it was being poured at this same annual event before the Romanée-Saint-Vivant.
The 2015s are generally pleasurable wines, as banal as that reads. They have taken a secret oath to offer drinkers sensory satisfaction, as well as an intellectual experience. As such, they are reassuringly approachable in style, with lighter tannins, (excepting Richebourg and to a lesser extent, La Tâche), lively acidity levels, pretty red fruit and distinct terroir expression. Romanée-Conti outplayed La Tâche this year, the former exuding tremendous harmony and composure, conveying a sense of effortlessness. It accepts supremacy without fuss and no complaint from its siblings. La Tâche was relatively unsure of itself, mercurial and introspective, and as such it will require several years to develop cohesion and grace. Maybe that is what fuels the intrigue and fascination – the 2015 La Tâche is a blend of Pinot Noir and enigma. Between Richebourg and Romanée-Saint-Vivant, the former is one of the standouts this year, not the behemoth you might have found in previous vintages, yet with a solid spine of tannin, enormous depth and simmering power. It threatened to overshadow the Romanée-Saint-Vivant that cowed when initially juxtaposed against the Richebourg, and yet with aeration, developed a compelling edginess that enhanced complexity. Echézeaux is another vineyard that Aubert de Villaine opined has improved in recent years and it showed extremely well, although predictably Grands Echézeaux ramps everything up another level. Since its debut in 2009, Corton seems to be assimilated into the “DRC family”, sharing the DNA of Grands-Echézeaux and Romanée-Saint-Vivant. Earlier vintages were a little showy, as if Corton was desperate to fit into its illustrious company. That is not the case now.
So that is the 2015s. No doubt you have read similar sentiments and bon mots elsewhere. They are born to be great wines. They are born into greatness. However those 1999s are still indelibly etched into my memory. And as it turned out, I did re-enact that very special tasting thanks to the “crazy gang” friends that were on a mission to taste all the 1999 DRCs in my humble presence. “What?” I asked incredulously. “All of them. Including R.C.?”
I should have known. “Of course,” came the reply.
The first article that I ever published on the subject of wine was not some breathless puff on a 100-point Chilean Merlot discovered two-for-one down at my local Tesco. Embarrassingly, my first vinous words (not Vinous words) regaled a morning in the company of the recently bottled 1999s from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti at Corney & Barrow. In my mind, there was never any chance of a rerun through those 1999s. So I make do with the memories and remain grateful that I have tasted every release since the 1995 vintage. The latest, the 2015s, is one of the domaine’s best.
