Domaine de la Romanée Conti, La Tache Grand Cru 1995

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Tasted at Hix restaurant, a bottle shared between two so that I was able to witness how this wine blossoms and boy, does it blossom. The nose is just pure Pinot in excelsis, touches of wild strawberry, redcurrant, a tangible mineralite…but it is the delineation and the clarity that is so ethereal. The palate is beautifully balanced, perfect acidity, swelling with intensity (not power) over the course of two hours, brilliant precision with touches of raspberry and wild strawberry and just exuberant, “Pinote”. It just glides across the palate and lingers on the finish so that you cannot forget it in a hurry. Sublime. Drink now-2030+ Tasted March 2010.

robert_parker95

Reviewed by: Pierre Rovani

This wine is mind-boggling and has gathered even more body, power, and density than it displayed from barrel. It is intensely profound, and super-ripe yet harmonious. Its extraordinarily long finish (it tails off with a sweet kirsch kiss) flabbergasted me. I could not help but think of the finishes of two wines I love - Chateau Rayas and Chateau Lafleur. It appears to be holding an enormous amount in reserve, and may ultimately merit higher ratings. It should be held at least ten years, and will easily last through 2020 given proper cellar conditions. Bravo! Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661.

robert_parker98

Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Pale to medium ruby with a touch of brick. The La Tache gives very little on the nose to begin with but soon blossoms into the most incredible cherry compote, black truffle, cloves, loam, saucisson and tobacco leaf aromas. The palate shows exemplary structure and concentration, seamlessly knitting very crisp acidity with a firm level of very finely grained tannins and layer upon layer of complex fruit, mineral and game flavours. Very long finish. This wine has many great years left and will generously reward the patient.

robert_parker98

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Wow - an awesome nose of cherry, redcurrant and blueberry. Like the Romanee-Conti this is a fleshy Pinot Noir: deep and complex with precocious, glycerin-rich fruit. Finely interwoven tannins, fresh acidity, great balance. Low-keyed at the moment but great potential with a very strong finish. Ineffable. Tasted February 1998.

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: Pierre Rovani

The dark ruby-colored La Tache displays a black cherry and super-spicy bouquet with touches of buttery toast from the new oak and a concentrated, enveloping, minerally, red and black fruit-filled, Asian spice-packed personality. Full-bodied, intense, with excellent length, this is certainly the finest La Tache produced since the out-of-this-world 1990. Drink between 2003-2012+. This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. Drc wines are not subjected to any filtration or fining and undergo only one racking. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661.