Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Montrachet Grand Cru 2006

vinous94

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

In this tasting, the 2006 Montrachet comes across as a bit rustic and chunky, driven by a distinctly phenolic/savory quality. Power dominates over finesse. I have had finer examples. Tasted at the DRC Montrachet charity event in New York.

vinous95

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2006 Montrachet is an intense, phenolic wine endowed with remarkable power, structure and depth. Today, it is a bit monolithic, especially when compared with some of the vintages that follow it, most notable 2007, 2008 and 2009. With some coaxing, darker tonalities of orchard fruit, sage, chamomile and mint emerge, but the 2006 is a wine that still needs time. Even so, I don’t see the charm and arresting beauty of the very best years. Readers opening the 2006 should plan on giving it quite a bit of air.

vinous96

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2006 Montrachet is by far the most reticent of the young wines in this tasting, with tons of power, most of it lying in reserve. White orchard fruit, mint flower and white pepper notes give the 2006 a palpable sense of lift. A wine of crystalline finesse and striking perfume, the 2006 possesses more than enough vibrancy to drink well for many years. This is the one of the two wines (the other was 2001) that was decanted, as it as incredibly tight upon first opening. Once again, the fruit came in at the very end of the harvest.

vinous98

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2006 Montrachet Grand Cru absolutely delivers on lofty expectations. Astonishing delineation and precision on the nose, this is vivid aromatically, crushed stone and sea spray bursting from the glass. It can barely contain its intensity. The palate is incredibly precise, taut and powerful, building towards its peacock's tail on the finish that leaves residues of crustacea and wild mint on the aftertaste. Heavenly. Tasted at the La Paulée in Beaune.

vinous94

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Pale gold. Slightly exotic aromas of butterscotch, smoke and honey, all lifted by powerful minerality. Fat, superrich and sweet, with great solidity and fullness to the stone fruit, butterscotch, saline and mineral flavors. Following the red wines here-and the Leroy Corton-Charlemagne I tasted earlier the same morning-this verged on heavy (perhaps the effect of about 10% noble rot), but this big boy has enough energy to maintain freshness as it burns off some of its baby fat over the next decade or so.

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: David Schildknecht

Aubert de Villaine and his team harvested their 2006 Montrachet on September 26, and it was bottled (as a single assemblage) at the end of 2007. High-toned peach, lemon oil, musk, and floral aromas mark the penetrating, ethereal nose. Smoky, peach kernel pungency weaves its way through nutty, peachy richness on the palate. Less obviously dense, rich and sappy than the extraordinary 2005, this 2006 for all of its sheer viscosity and ripeness, displays a dynamic, almost shimmering sense of fruit and mineral interplay. Intriguingly, in my initial – November, 2007 tasting – this effect was more pronounced from a barrel that had been rolled to disburse the lees than in one that had undergone conventional batonnage. The youthful 2006 reflects its new wood environment in a way that the 2005 – at similar stages in its evolution – did not. There is no lack here of the mystery that should be expected from one of the world’s most fabled and expensive wines, not just in the paradox of viscosity, richness and power combined with elegance, lift, and refinement; but also in nuances that left me groping the lexicon for animal or mineral descriptors. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661