Domaine de la Romanee-Conti

In all honesty, there aren’t many wines that would inspire me to make the journey from West Oxfordshire to East London (well, E1) – particularly first thing on a freezing February morning. But the line up from the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti (DRC), are certainly one of them. So once again, I found myself making the annual pilgrimage to the plush London offices of Corney & Barrow’s, DRC’s UK agents.

DRC, of course, do things differently. So rather than tasting the 2010s, with the masses in January, a select few were invited to taste the Domaine’s 2009s.

Once again, the wines are a class apart. In short, they are effortlessly sublime with exquisite, almost ethereal purity of fruit and wonderful vineyard definition. Utterly delicious now, the wines, of course, will age with grace and favour. 2009 was a rich, ripe and hedonistic vintage in Burgundy. But what struck me about these reds was their verve and freshness. Interestingly, the 2009s remind DRC’s co-owner, Aubert de Villaine, of the 1959s. Not being remotely familiar with 50 year old DRCs, I couldn’t possibly comment!

This year, there were also two additional wines to taste alongside the six grand cru reds. The first is the domaine’s premier cru Cuvee Duvault-Blochet made from de-selected Grand Cru fruit. Utterly delicious and fresh, this is a stunning effort. However, if you want to buy this wine, you’ll have to do so in a restaurant. This is because Aubert de Villaine has requested that the wine be exclusively sold through the on trade.

I was particularly interested to taste the Domaine’s new wine – its 2009 Corton, which has fruit from three leased Grand Cru vineyards (Clos du Roi, Bressandes and Renardes. It struck me as an instant classic, showing lovely perfume, sweet red fruits and real class. At one and the same time it is fresh, firm and generous.

It’s almost invidious to write a tasting notes for the rest. Not least because one is constantly reaching for yet another superlative. I marginally favoured the Grand Echezeaux over the Echezeaux, because it had a touch more depth and power, allied to more savoury character on the finish. Both are brilliant wines with a point acidity and lovely texture.

The Richebourg and Romanee-St-Vivant were richer and even more vibrant. The former has more grip and power, the latter is a touch silkier and more open. Both are transcendentally good.

As for La Tache and Romanee-Conti, both wines are flirting with perfection. La Tache is bright, pale fresh and limpid. Perfume soars from the glass. On the palate are  notes of cream, raspberries, spices and a tiny hint of tobacco. The texture is all silk and velvet. The wine is utterly complete.

Yet the Romanee-Conti somehow manages to shine in even brighter, more vivid and complex colours, aromas and flavours. Again raspberry and strawberry fruits dominate with an underlying echo of violets and cream. The tannins are firm but fine. The acidity is so utterly refreshing. The length and balance is remarkable – even by DRC’s standards. I know it’s easy to hype DRC – but this wine has to be tasted to be believed. It’s as close to perfection as is humanly possible.

Alas, none of this comes cheap. This year, La Tache weighs in at £3,250 per six pack. For Romanee-Conti, you’re talking a cool £5,250 for box of three.

However, just being able to splash the cash probably won’t be enough to secure a sale. Corney’s allocation system means that regular customers receive first dibs – and quite right too. Sadly, I am not a regular or even irregular buyer of these wines. But it is a wonderful experience to taste them in all their glory. It’s even worth travelling all the way from Oxfordshire.

But then again, this was the annual pilgrimage to taste the latest release of DRC are not exactly an ordinary set of wines.

DRC does things differently.