Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru 2005

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: David Schildknecht

The 2005 Grands-Echezeaux displays an utterly different, less charming personality than its “little” sibling. Fresh black raspberry and black cherry hover between sorbet-like and faintly-caramelized manifestations. The palate is obviously dense, with considerable grip and ultra-fine tannins, incipient silkiness, but not the creaminess of the Echezeaux. Fresh berry, faintly tart fruit skin, and nut oils inform an uncannily kinetic finish that makes one’s mouth quiver. Once the grapes in these fabled vineyards had reached a potential alcohol of 13%, reports Aubert de Villaine, he was ready to pick, because conditions had seldom been so conducive to perfect ripeness (including that of the stems). It was all done in a week, commencing with La Tache and Romanee Conti, and finishing on September 23 with Romanee-St.-Vivant (and Montrachet, on which I shall report at a future date). De Villaine intended to bottle in March or April by gravity in six-barrel lots, as has become general practice here over the past decade. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661.

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

A slightly deeper ruby hue than the Echezeaux. The nose is less inviting at first but certainly has more depth and darker fruit. Raspberry, Doris plum, brambly fruits and like the Echezeaux (and indeed, Dujac's best 2005's) a sorbet like quality developing with time but refusing to advance any further than the background. After fifteen minutes there is a greater sense on minerality and definition with a more floral element evolving. The palate is medium-bodied with absolutely stunning precision and poise with a minerality coming through on the mid-palate. Supreme focus, more taut than the Echezeaux with notes of raspberry leaf, red cherry, touch of cranberry and minerals. Superb length: an outstanding Grands Echezeaux. Tasted February 2008.

vinous96

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2005 Grands-Echézeaux Grand Cru is a wine I have not encountered since just after bottling. It has a fabulous bouquet, so pure and complex, its mineralité riveting you to the spot. Crystalline. The palate has a divine balance with immense poise, which is uncommon in this muscular vintage. The tannins seem to have melted in recent years, exerting a gentle grip with a hint of shaved black truffle on the finish. This is in a good place at the moment. Tasted at the La Paulée in Beaune.

vinous97

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

I was blown away by the 2005 Grands-Echézeaux Grand Cru because though I have tasted it two or three times, never could I envisage that it would reach this level. It has laser-like precision on the nose with more blue fruit than I remember, so much mineralité, as if someone had just ground limestone directly into the wine glass. The palate is exquisitely balanced with filigree tannins framing the pure red fruit, a Pinot Noir with unerring symmetry. It gains weight and depth with aeration, ultimately transforming into a profound wine and one of the best bottles of Grands-Echézeaux that I have tasted from the domaine. Tasted at Noizé restaurant in London.

vinous93

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Fresh ruby-red color. Black raspberry, mocha, smoky spices and earth on the rather discreet nose. Sweet but high-pitched, communicating an impression of more youthful fruit than the Echezeaux. This boasts terrific lift and aromatic intensity in the mouth but is quite backward today. Finishes extremely long, with nicely integrated tannins and excellent verve. I love the energy here. But this will need 15 years.

vinous94

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

(like the Echezeaux, this had been racked about ten days prior to my tasting) Good deep red. Very ripe aromas of cherry, raspberry and spice; showing more oak today than the Echezeaux. Suave, primary and intense, with a penetrating spine keeping the flavors quite tight today. A firmly tannic grand cru that boasts more inner-palate energy than the Echezeaux.