Nature Rules/Nature’s Rules: DRC 2021 In Bottle 

BY NEAL MARTIN | FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Rules are imposed to be bent or broken. They exist to see what we can get away with. “Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it,” wrote American essayist Henry David Thoreau. Indeed, there are unwritten rules for those who attend the annual tasting of wines from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti held in the offices of UK agent Corney & Barrow.

1) Arrive on the right day. Back in 1997, when I telephoned to enquire what time I should arrive for my first ever DRC new release tasting, the laconic reply was, “Ten o’clock yesterday.”

2) Arrive at the right time. Assuming you have circled the correct day on your calendar, there is no point materializing at midday to find a row of empty bottles and a perfume of La Tâche in the ether. This has never happened to me. Usually, I pitch a tent outside Corney & Barrow’s doorway three or four days in advance, which admittedly does look a bit strange, especially when a small encampment builds up as sommeliers and scribes copy my idea.

3) Don’t ask for the Romanée-Conti first. Sure, you are excited to taste a wine that you’re unlikely to find in the supermarket aisle any time soon. But you must act nonchalantly and drink these wines as if it’s your regular tipple. Disguise the giddy feeling that you’re winning in life, if only for that day and not the other 364.

4) Don’t spit. It’s only seven or eight wines. You’re not going to stagger out drunk and leave your illegible notes in a taxi before you are arrested for being a public nuisance.

5) Spit. It connotes professionalism, even if others will think you’re an idiot.

6) Give yourself time. These wines are infants whose behavior must be observed. Get acquainted. Introduce yourself. Silently, or sotto voce, talk to the wine in your glass so that it has a few minutes to unfurl and reveal its true nascent self. Don’t speak too loudly; otherwise, people will think you’re mad.  

I have followed these rules since 1997…sorry, I mean 1998. However, this year, the format was changed because, with volumes the lowest in 50 years, there are smaller numbers of samples. Therefore, for the first time since 1990, this was a seated tasting similar to those organized Stateside, meaning there was far less space to accommodate the usual number of invitees. While I missed the social aspect, this masterclass format does have advantages, primarily that all the wines were poured together instead of one by one. This meant I could return to glasses to monitor changes and compare the range side-by-side throughout the two-hour session. It also benefitted co-directors Bertrand de Villaine and Perrine Fenal, who fielded questions from the audience instead of answering the same question repeatedly. They make an effective team, almost opposites in appearance, de Villaine’s ursine build in contrast to Fenal’s willowy frame. They avoid speaking in clichés and actually riff off each other in an entertaining and informative fashion.