“Someone didn’t spit!” a writer exclaims as the fire alarms at the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2023 tasting cracks the examination room silence that always pervades the first tasting of the new DRC wines at Corney&Barrow. Thankfully the first ever trade event held at C&B’s newly revamped HQ (newly framed King’s warrant proudly hung on newly painted walls) didn’t end with the rare chosen few being trooped out into the early February chill, although to be fair there wouldn’t have been a great deal of difference between inside and outside temperatures.
We take Adam Brett-Smith’s explanation at face value that the tasting room has been kept ‘cellar cool’ to better show the wines, rather than the unthinkable notion that the rising cost of living is catching up with the hallowed halls of Thomas More Street; those who wore cellar gilets to the tasting, it has to be said, also wore a self-satisfied grin.
Inside Corney&Barrow's revamped HQ. Good to see our flag respectfully flown these days.
Feeling the heat
If there was a theme to DRC’s 2023 vintage tasting then ‘temperature’ was it. This was after all the hottest vintage ever, an epithet that every vintage in Burgundy seems to bear these days. Apart from hearing how the DRC team coped with the climate, the tasting also featured comparisons with other solar vintages – 2003 and, more recently 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 – although my fingers now turning blue were wondering less about a solar vintage and more whether the C&B refit had included the installation of solar panels. Maybe next time the heating might be balanced to replicate the heat of harvest time.
Interestingly Brett-Smith, C&B’s head honcho, relayed that the night previous at a private dinner for 51 guests only one person had guessed the 2003 (en magnum) when tasted blind – an example of how wines from solar vintages can confound the taster.
The 2003 vintage was constantly referred to during the tasting of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2023 wines
“The word used to describe the wine was ‘ethereal’, a word never used in connection with 2003 but it was last night,” said Brett-Smith, “and we also had the Montrachet 2003 – 23 years old – which, at the time, was quite casually dismissed with having high alcohol, no acidity, that it wouldn’t last but it was fresh and danced in the most beautiful way.”
Tasting the nine wines that make up the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2023 release, there was not one that showed excessive heat. The fruit was exhibiting perfect ripeness, the wines balanced with structured, ripe tannins being a theme of all the wines. All of them came ended up as 14% abv (for the first time), had stunning balance, detail and concentration without being too intense or exhibiting any signs of over-ripeness.
The wine that had the most lifted, pretty perfume and sensual ripe fruit was the on-trade-only-allocated Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault-Blochet, a delightful wine which has been made in the past four vintages after a decade-long gap, but even this didn’t come anywhere close to being labelled over-ripe.
That line-up in full
It’s to the credit of new vineyard manager Sylvain Pellegrinelli and the cuverie team under Alexandre Bernier that the wines are in such magnificent shape. And let’s not forget the vines – Bertrand de Villaine says that without 2023 also being a bumper harvest as well as a very hot one these results probably wouldn’t have been achieved.
With the largest bunches of grapes ever seen on the property, a thinning of the grapes mid-June was possible, followed by a green harvest towards the end of August to allow the stubbornly slow-ripening grapes to pick up, which was immediately followed by two heatwaves which caused sugar levels to rise rapidly. The heat was so intense that the 50 pickers and 20 porters (the grapes are manually carried from the vineyard for speed’s sake) had to stop for protection. Several passes were necessary.
With sugar levels rising fast to the highest level of maturity witnessed at DRC the decision was made to ‘select out’ the riper grapes and ‘select in’ the ones with higher acidity to preserve good balance.
"If it was the same conditions with a low crop I don’t think we’d have these results.” - Bertrand de Villaine, Perrine Fenal, Adam Brett-Smith (lr)
“Selecting grapes was really necessary,” says Bertrand de Villaine, “also the decision to green harvest – to concentrate on less grapes and manage the maturity of those grapes.”
De Villaine also says that having 90% of the same vineyard team is a key factor in coping with adverse conditions “They are concerned by the quality of what they’re doing, also we had more people carrying the grapes – less mechanization – which makes it easier to go faster.”
Another characteristic of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2023 wines is that each cuvée stood out from one another when tasting, with each great vineyard reimposing itself on the vintage and assuming its own identity.
Adam Brett-Smith spoke of the resilience of the vines here: ”Perhaps in the end what was manifested here was the “memory of the vines” and their infinite ability to adapt to prevailing conditions. It may be fanciful to suggest it, but it also seems as if these 2023s learnt the lesson of 2022 in order to put their particular and very different stamp on this vintage.”
De Villaine added that the vineyards do adapt quickly but it was clear that both he and Perrine Fenal are concerned about the increasing drought and climate events.
“With less grapes on the vine they do suffer more, which was not a problem in 2023, but if it was the same conditions with a low crop I don’t think we’d have these results.”
Tasting the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2023 wines:
Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault-Blochet
This delightful Vosne-Romanée is a blend of grand cru fruit, believed to be Échézeaux, Grands Échézeaux and La Tâche. Ripe, pretty and complex on the nose with ripe raspberry and floral perfume. Fresh and light on entry, ripe, fine-boned tannins, add texture to the deliciously-flavoured fruit. Decent density and surprisngly ‘grown-up’. (On-trade only).
Corton Grand Cru
Three tiny plots produce this 15th vintage of DRC’s Corton. Dark ruby, with darker notes and more intensity than the Vosne-Romanée, greater complexity on the nose with some candied fruit and a touch of red liquorice. Serious, tightly sprung power, feels unresolved, and the only cuvée where there was a suggestion of heat and raised abv.
Échézeaux Grand Cru
Slightly reserved – it uncoils in the glass over the hour – with youthful dark fruit and a hint of sous bois. Fresh on entry with a grippy edge to the overt tannins, decent concentration without being too intense, elegant too. Needs some more years.
Grands Échézeaux Grand Cru
One of the first truly great wines in the tasting – and a perceptible jump up from the Échézeaux. The nose has beautifully rich, dark red fruit, an unusual note (earth, mineral?), an alluring intensity. The palate is awe-inspiring – powerful, fresh, elegant, pure – with the sturdy tannic structure (which is one of the hallmarks of this vintage at DRC) more powdery than the previous wines but ripe, with real presence. Fabulous poise in the mouth and huge length
Romanée-St-Vivant Grand Cru
Less giving on the nose, darker notes – black raspberry – with, in the mouth, decent concentration balanced with freshness and dry extract, a sappy quality to the fruit. Tightly wound mineral core. Lovely with a hidden strength.
Richebourg Grand Cru
A real powerhouse, described by one critic as ‘Mahler compared to Romanée-St-Vivant’s Mozart’. From the get-go this has more heft – deep ruby, darker notes with wild fruit, sous bois and fire hearth. Fabulous depth and complexity, hints of cardamom perhaps. Fresh, lively palate with a cool core, firm tannins, more overt acidity – dry, lengthy finish. Fabulous.
La Tâche Grand Cru Monopole
Wow! What intensity – great concentration – so much going on – darker than the Romanée-Conti and lighter than the Richebourg – but with an attractive sweet perfume, violets turned up. Fresh, ripe, velvety smooth, with ripe powdery tannins – caressing the palate – phenomenal balance, less dry extract with balanced, sturdy length. May be atypical and moody but this was one of the standouts for me.
Romanée-Conti Grand Cru Monopole
A Romanée-Conti that you have to go to rather than it come to you – quiet, sublime, weightless and ethereal – it feels like it has secrets. The nose is extraordinary – plush red fruit with some red liquorice notes and baked black fruit in the background. Fresh, structured, fine-boned tannins, concentrated yet delicate, lovely detail and layered. It has some heft to the wine but seems reluctant to show it. Fabulous finish, a touch of salinity? Quite magical wine and one of the truly great wines.
Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru
Having bought this wine when it was made by Bonneau du Martray before DRC leased it five years ago, I couldn’t help but compare it to their style which, in a hot vintage, was always almost too ripe. Here the wine has a creamy richness but there’s a fresh purity that connects it to the earth rather than the dazzling exposure of this great hill. Ripe golden yellow stone fruit, slightly oleaginous, good volume, lovely, candied notes to the fruit. Put a straw in the bottle and find some shade.
Newly framed royal appointment at Corney&Barrow's newly revamped HQ
The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2023 wines are imported and sold in the UK through Corney&Barrow which is a commercial partner of The Buyer, to discover more about them click here.
