Domaine de la ROMANÉE-CONTI (Vosne-Romanée) -- 2016 Tasted from Barrel

(Originally published 16 January 2018.)

The frost on the morning of 27 April, devastating that Bâtard-Montrachet (not offered to the public) and the Montrachet, and severely hitting the Grands-Echézeaux and Echézeaux vineyards. (The rest — Corton, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Richebourg, La Tâche, and Romanée-Conti — escaped damage completely or almost completely.) 

The rain in the early part of the vintage was relentless, surpassing the totals of 1910 that had wiped out almost completely the production for that vintage. As with most organic and biodynamic estates that I visited, the mildew resulting from the humid conditions was ferocious and required vigilance and a great deal of work in the vineyards. Additionally, there was the long flowering period (9-25 June), leading to expectation of uneven ripening. But then the warm, dry weather came, allowing the grapes to develop and for overall even ripening. With some rain before harvest to refresh the vines, everything in the second half went as well as could be hoped.

Already by 15 September, the grapes were quite ripe, but they were allowed to develop a further week. Harvesting was from 22 to 29 September, with the dates for each wine indicated below.

For the second consecutive vintage, there was no botrytis. With the even ripening, there was almost no sorting of the grapes necessary, and whole clusters were largely used throughout. 

The result at the Domaine is yet another vintage of great wines.

As you may already know, the frost so severely affected the Chassagne side of Montrachet that there essentially was no harvest. Seven Montrachet producers (Amiot, Lafon, Fleurot-Larose, Lamy-Pillot, Leflaive, Petitjean, and the Domaine) from the Chassagne side combined their meager crop to produce just over two barrels of wine, vinified by Leflaive. The bottles will be divided among the producers; it’s not clear what will then happen, but it is possible that the bottles will be put up for a charity auction.

Finally before the reviews, I should mention that Bernard Noblet, who has been with the Domaine since 1978 and was the chef de cave since 1986, retired at the end of 2017. You don’t need me to tell you that Bernard did a superb job as the right-hand-man at the estate. His successor is Alexandre Bernier, a young vigneron, who has already worked at the estate for several years, and so one expects nothing other than a smooth hand-off.


2016 Corton
I continue to be greatly impressed with the work that the Domaine has been doing with the Corton. The wine has dark fruit aromas and flavors with intensity, freshness, and purity, a somewhat austere (Cistercian) structure, and excellent energy. It doesn’t resemble any other Corton I know, but so much the better for it. Harvested 22 September, 22 hl/ha. (94-97)

2016 Echézeaux
As I’ve been reporting, for over a decade, the estate has been working to improve the Echézeaux, and the results have been paying off. Aubert de Villaine called this wine, one of the greatest Echézeaux made under his stewardship; alas, this will be one of the rarest Echézeaux that the Domaine has produced. The nose is perfumed and floral. The mouth features strawberry and blackberry fruit with nervosity, purity, and energy. Harvested 29 September, 6 hl/ha. (95-98)

2016 Grands-Echézeaux
One can see that there is outstanding potential in this wine, but it was quite closed on the day I tasted it. There’s no shortage of acidity and the wine is fresh and nervy with energy and typical black licorice elements. Harvested 29 September, 7 hl/ha. (94-98)

2016 Romanée-Saint-Vivant
The Romanée-Saint-Vivant displays typical sensuality to its raspberry and strawberry fruit. The wine is fresh, pure, deep, and nervy. It is one of the greatest RSV’s of recent years. Harvested 27 and 28 September, 27 hl/ha. (95-99)

2016 Richebourg
The comparison of Richebourg with Romanée-Saint-Vivant is always fascinating for the contrasting styles of the vineyards and to see which I prefer in a particular year. For 2016, both are so spectacular that I could not make a choice. The wine is very dense with explosive dark fruit, purity, depth, and plenty of minerality. Harvested 23 and 24 September, 24 hl/ha. (95-99)

2016 La Tâche
The Tâche has typical spicy aromas. The mouth is steely, pure, fresh, and powerful with intense dark fruit. The wine may be a touch riper than the others, and the energy here is somewhat different — less kinetic. Harvested 24 and 25 September, 31 hl/ha. (95-99)

2016 Romanée-Conti
As I’ve indicated in prior reviews, there were four absolutely unforgettable wines in the 2016 vintage that I tasted — the Chambertins of Rousseau and Trapet and the Musigny of Roumier are the three I’ve previously commented on. Romanée-Conti is the fourth, and interestingly, it is the only one of the four from vines that did not suffer serious frost damage.  The wine shows great depth in nose and mouth with extreme purity to its red currant fruit. The wine is absolutely seamless, resulting in great harmony. Harvested 25 September, 24 hl/ha. (97-99)