Domaine de la Romanée Conti, La Tache Grand Cru 1999

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Comparing my glass to that of Romanee-Conti, a noticeably paler hue, but the nose soars from glass with precocious ripe berried fruit, wild strawberry, a touch of musk and leather. A soft entry but then its concentration stamps its authority on the palate. Very harmonious with notes of plum developing on the finish. Certainly one of the most multi-dimensional La Tache I have tasted. Quite spicy on the finish with the length of a prog-rock triple album. Magnificent. (1,387 cases produced) Tasted February 2002.

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Pierre Rovani

The medium to dark ruby-colored 1999 La Tache has sweet, tangy raspberry, black currant, candied cherry, leather, and spice aromas. This medium to full-bodied wine is harmonious, refined, and powerful. It is expansive, magnificently delineated, and feminine, particularly for La Tache. Its flavor profile is crammed with an assortment of super-ripe red and black fruit laced with vanilla beans. It has loads of sweet tannin that can be detected in its admirable finish. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661.

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Tasted at the La Tâche vertical at The Square. Having not tasted the La Tâche 1999 since it had been bottled, I was intrigued to see how it was developing. Monumentally, is the correct answer. First and foremost this is a seriously long-term La Tâche that is maturing at a glacial pace. Indeed, I left most in my glass and waited for it to open. An hour later and it was firing on all cylinders. It is blessed with an incredibly intense, powerful nose that loses its broodiness with aeration and eventually unveils a crystalline set of mineral-soaked aromatics that sport a decadent, almost exotic floral note–wilted violets and potpourri. The palate has a quite astonishing structure, but it is more the symmetry that makes this one of the greatest vintages of recent years. It unfolds with daring passion to reveal layers of plush but focused dark plum and cassis fruit that just seem to flow and flow on the never-ending finish. It is a multifaceted, multidimensional masterpiece that really needs another decade in bottle.

vinous98

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

A dark, exotic beauty, the 1999 La Tâche hits the palate with scents of soy, blackberry, licorice, grilled herbs, smoke, graphite and lavender. The 1999 is a distinctly brooding, dark La Tâche that speaks with a real sense of gravitas. Just at the very early part of its drinking window, the 1999 will offer profound drinking over the next several decades.

vinous100

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 1999 La Tâche Grand Cru can be a perfect wine. This was very similar to the bottle opened in 2015. The bouquet sends you straight to heaven with so much purity and detail that frankly it is difficult to put into words. Fleeting glimpses of redcurrant, then pomegranate, broom and wilted rose petals, later more earthy scents, autumnal. The palate is perfectly balanced with filigree tannin, a symmetry that is utterly entrancing and precision second to none. Hints of black plum and blood orange, that mineralité returning towards a finish so tensile you risk cutting yourself. I would have given this my second score had the 1999 Romanée-Conti been in the next glass. Tasted at the 1999 DRC dinner.

vinous96

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Good dark red; not crystal-clear. Very ripe, musky, multidimensional nose combines blackberry, raspberry, violet, earth, game, black pepper and herbs, plus a positive vegetal nuance. Plush, silky and very ripe but not particularly sweet, with concentrated dark fruit, spice and pepper flavors complicated by a hint of prune. (More fruit ripeness than the '15, noted Aubert de Villaine just moments after we had tasted the '15 La Tâche) Finishes with substantial dusty tannins and a note of licorice. Not particularly high in acidity but this extremely complex wine is still just short of its peak drinking window.

vinous97

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Full ruby-red. Impressively pure nose of raspberry, strawberry, minerals, oriental spices and sexy oak. Superripe, lush and highly concentrated; already very expressive in the mouth, thanks to its utterly silky texture and wonderfully fine tannins. Explosively long and youthful on the back end. Consistently pure and fine from start to finish.

vinous97

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Bright, deep ruby-red. Black cherry, blackberry, cassis, and sexy, spicy oak on the nose. Wonderful sweetness and generosity of fruit; a large-scaled '99 that boasts great volume without being at all heavy. Spicy fruit flavors really saturate the entire palate and cover the wine's ripe tannins. Likely to be a monument of the vintage.