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  • Country ranking ?

    522
  • Producer ranking ?

    81
  • Decanting time

    45min
  • When to drink

    now
  • Food Pairing

    Smoked Salmon Tartine

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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1945 La Tâche:

It’s generally not appreciated but there was hail damage but even so, we had an exceptionally good, extremely small harvest because of the frost during floraison. We made extremely good wines but I don’t believe they are truly great and most of them are tiring now.” Aubert de Villaine;

Meadows: One of the greatest of the post war vintages and certainly one of the longest lived. It was the last year for Romanée-Conti on the old pre-phylloxera vines as they were grubbed up after the harvest. I have had any number of fine old ‘45s though many of them today are still tannic but have lost the freshness of their fruit and most have, not surprisingly, become entirely secondary and tertiary in character. The ’45 La Tâche though has an immense reputation, second only to the incredibly rare and legendary ’45 Romanée-Conti). Bricked all the way to the center with some brownish tint creeping in. The nose here is extremely advanced with pronounced tertiary aromas that hint at the spice that was once there, all liberally laced with strong earth notes and noticeable VA (volatile acidity). Happily though, the flavors are still remarkably pure and seriously complex with a spicy, velvety, moderately tannic finish. On the palate, this is still a gorgeous wine but one that is clearly in decline and I can’t see any reason to delay drinking it sooner than later. 94/now

Allen Meadows

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The Story

Well-cared for vines, strictly controlled yields and as late as possible harvest produces an aromatic and opulent wine. Deeply coloured, La Tâche develops a palate of extraordinary aromas of dark fruits, truffle and spices.

Rich and concentrated, its bouquet releases infinite tones that melt in the mouth to form a lovely ensemble – always exceptional, even in the difficult vintages. Hence in 1950 and 1951, it was the only wine in the domaine that was bottled.

Like many other Burgundy properties, the parcel La Tâche was originally connected to a monastery. It was then owned by two different families, one of which was the Joly de Bévy, who were dispossessed during the Revolution.

Later owned by the Basire and then the Liger-Belair families, the remaining part of La Tâche was purchased by the emblematic Domaine de La Romanée-Conti in 1933, joining the other mythical crus of Grands-Échézeaux, Échézeaux and Richebourg. From this vintage, La Tâche, solely
owned by one single domaine, became a ‘Cru Monopole’.

It is of course rare, producing 20,000 bottles per year, and is highly sought after by wine connoisseurs around the world, particularly in Asia.

La Tâche remains more accessible in price than the iconic cru of the domaine, DRC, yet it is also regarded as an icon with legendary status.

Buying a bottle of La Tâche, even in a lesser vintage, not only provides an extraordinary pleasure when opening the wine, but, if not opened, will give a certain guarantee of a comfortable appreciation in the medium term.

 

Romanée-Conti lies on brown limestone soils 60 cm deep with a major clay component. Romanée-Saint-Vivant has similar but deeper (90 cm) soils. Higher up, La Romanée occupies a markedly sloping site (12%) and the soil texture is less clayey. La Tâche and La Grande Rue share brown limestone soils, rather shallow at the top end with deeper rendzinas lower down. The same is true for the Richebourg, depending on slope and aspect. The underlying rock is hard Premeaux limestone dating from the Jurassic (175 million years BC).

Lying between Flagey-Échezeaux (home of the ÉCHEZEAUX appellation) and Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne-Romanée occupies a middle position in the Côte de Nuits. The vines grow at altitudes of 250 to 310 metres and face east or, in some cases, slightly south of east. Vosne-Romanée, the central jewel in the necklace of appellations which is the burgundian côte, is not content with holding a mere four aces but boasts a total of six Grands Crus, each one famous the world over. A thousand years ago, it was the Cluniac monks of Saint-Vivant de Vergy and the Cistercians of Cîteaux who first realised the value of these very special plots of land.

One of these vineyards takes its name from Prince Conti who lost his heart to it in 1760. Romanée-Conti is one of the wonders ofthe world and has always been a singly-held entity. Next door to it, Romanée-Saint-Vivant recalls the medieval monastery of the Hautes-Côtes which is currently undergoing restoration and which is linked to it by its own path. La Romanée, La Tâche and La Grande Rue are also singly-held entities, as is Richebourg, whose mere name is enough to fill a glass.

These Grands Crus frequently give good results from long laying-down. As a general rule, they shouldn't be drunk under about ten years of age but sometimes they will be aged up to 20 or 30 years. Each appellation has its own distinct personality depending on its year of production and on the stage it has reached in its development. These flamboyant red wines fully express the subtlety and complexity of the Burgundian Pinot Noir grape. Their colour is a dark ruby turning crimson with age. Their wide-ranging bouquet is divided among small red and black fruits, violet, spices and, with time, underbrush. On the palate, this wine is well-defined with a powerful body. It is delicate, sensual, frank and full.

In addition to their powerful structure and exceptional longevity, these great wines develop tertiary aromas of truffle, underbrush, leather and fur. It goes without saying that strong-flavoured meats will do them justice : furred or feathered game, braised, in sauce, or simply grilled. Wild-fowl (eg Peking duck) or a nice cut of roast veal will be gently enveloped by the close-packed but elegant tannins of these mighty Pinot Noir wines.

Serving temperatures : 15 to 16 °C.

 

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Wine Information

97 points from the Wine Spectator… 'Just lovely. Balanced and full of life, with great acidity keeping it on an even keel. Offers plenty of DRC's lovely floral, rose petal and exotic gingerlike notes. You just sink to your knees before this goddess of a [i]grand cru[n]. Ethereal and intense, it pumps out the flavors on the long finish.--La Tache vertical. 

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Average Bottle Price

2014 2011 2010 2005 2000 1995
8 943€ +20.5% 7 421€ -5.4% 7 843€ +100.7% 3 908€ +35.8% 2 877€ +113.9% 1 345€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Tasting note

color

Full

ending

Long, Round and Extensive

nose

Intense, Opulent, Generous and Refined

recommend

Yes

taste

Complex, Perfectly balanced, Multi-dimensional, Medium-bodied, Round, Harmonious and Full

Verdict

Exotic and Impressive

Written Notes

The second wine in this flight had ‘La Tache’ qualities per King Angry. There was similar volume here, with hints of good stink. It was nutty, beefy and rusty; the nose was so deep, I got lost. The wine had a similar finish, its acid crackling and high pitch singing brightly. Big, round and decadent, this wine ‘screamed La Tache, a great La Tache’ per Sir Robert. It should have, as it was the 1945 DRC La Tache, courtesy of Jim and Wendy (96+).
  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Satisfactory

Investment potential

Excellent

Fake factory

Serious

Glass time

1h

Other wines from this producer

Bâtard-Montrachet

Corton-Charlemagne

Corton Grand Cru

Echézeaux

Grands Echézeaux

La Romanée-Conti Grand Cru

Les Gaudichots

Marc

Montrachet

Richebourg

Romanée Conti

Romanee Saint Vivant

Vosne Romanée

Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault Blochet

Inside Information

One of the greatest-ever Burgundies, and certainly the most magnificent La Tâche of the post-war period. Still astonishingly deep in colour, extraordinarily fragrant and rich. Bursting with flavour. Seemingly tireless. MB

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