2005 | Domaine de la Romanee Conti | La Tache (Magnum)

Deep, powerful and richly textured, the 2005 simply has it all. Time in the glass releases the aromatics, but it is the wine’s pure sensuality I find most enticing. A host of dark red and blue stone fruits, hard candy and wild flowers take center stage.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2005 La Tache epitomizes the unique mysteries of Pinot (not to mention the character of a great site), with its aromas of game, musk, iris, star anise, vanilla, allspice, and naturally also an abundance of sweet, ripe, implosively tiny-berried fruit. Imagine a black Riesling. On the palate, a vivid freshness of fruit, pungency of spice and flowers, and melting away of what in point of analytical fact are abundant tannins, all engender an almost white wine dynamic of fruit-mineral call-and-response and clear, incisive penetration of flavors to every recess of the mouth. This is a T.R. sort of wine -- you just don’t feel the stick.

• Burghound: There really is not all that much difference between the way this bottle showed and my original review from late 2007 other than the nose of this most recent experience is notably less exuberant. However it remains just as kaleidoscopic and dazzling with its array of red and black cherry, cassis, plum and subtle earth notes replete with beguiling Asian spice cabinet aromas and essence of rose petal. The intense, powerful and breathtakingly concentrated flavors possess a taut muscularity before culminating in a palate coating finish of simply huge length. Not surprisingly, this is still structured to the point of being chewy yet it is never rustic or coarse because the gorgeously detailed palate impression is buffered by buckets of dry extract. As readers know, I often use the word Zen to describe the kind of inner harmony of a great vintage of Romanée-Conti but rarely with La Tâche yet in 2005, the LT has this element of inner calm and grace as well. In sum, I remain confident that this huge but utterly classy and stylish wine will go down as one of the all-time great LT's provided that you have the patience to wait as it is going to be a very long distance runner.

Producer Information

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, or DRC as it is commonly known, is easily Burgundy's best-known and most collectible wine producer. Based in the Burgundy village of Vosne-Romanée, the domaine sells wines from eight different grand cru vineyards that span the length of the Côte d'Or. The most famous comes from the eponymous Romanée-Conti vineyard, and on average is the most expensive wine in the world. The domaine predominately produces Pinot Noir-based wines from 28 hectares (69 acres) of grand cru vineyard. Alongside Romanée-Conti are La Tâche, Romanée-Saint-Vivant and Richebourg in Vosne-Romanée; plus Échezeaux and Grands Échezeaux bottlings. Fruit from Corton-Bressandes, Corton Clos du Roi and Corton Renardes is combined in a single Corton Grand Cru red. There are three white (Chardonnay) wines made. Only one of these, the Montrachet is made widely avilable. A Bâtard-Montrachet and a Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits are not publically distributed. Of course, La Romanée-Conti is the domaine's most famous asset, and the amount of wine made from less than 2ha (5 acres) of land amounts to just 6000 bottles a year. The vineyard has a long history, dating back to the Abbey of Saint-Vivant in the 13th Century. It took on the Romanée name in 1631, and the Conti in 1760.Today, DRC is owned in part by the de Villaine family and in part by the Leroy family. Aubert de Villaine is the figurehead of the company now – although it was famously run by Lalou Bize-Leroy for a time, until a dispute saw her ousted from control.

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