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Parker 99 points: The 2012 Romanee-Conti Grand Cru was picked on September 22. Even from barrel it offers spine-tingling delineation and precision on the nose, showing a slight stemmy note that will be subsumed once in bottle. In keeping with the theme of the vintage, the bouquet is angelically pure, the fruit a little darker than the La Tache with a dried petal element emerging with time. The palate is symmetrical with perfectly judged acidity and a lacelike lattice of tannins. Initially it is deceptively understated, but that is the wine just toying with you, drawing you in to its charms as crescendos towards supremely controlled, somehow nonchalant finish. This has unimaginable potential.
Aubert de Villaine was traveling the Far East when I visited the domaine’s relocated offices that lie in the shadow of the church in the main square in Vosne. And so cellar-master Bernard Noblet, distinctive with his hulking frame, escorted me through barrel samples of their 2012. Not everything was available for me to taste. Their Montrachet was damaged by hail and consequently there is less than half the usual crop, and Bernard was adamant that the Corton was not in representative condition. Incidentally, there is no Cuvee Duvault-Blochet in 2012, as one would expect in such a small volume crop. The domaine gave me a summary of this infamous growing season that essentially repeated the remarks of other growers, but expressed in Aubert’s poetic, allegorical fashion, my favorite sentence: “The vigneron’s intervention is quiet and rare, as that of the crew of a sailboat navigating calm weather.” Of course, the domaine, especially vineyard manager Nicolas Jacob, was not spared the choppy waters of the tumultuous season that threatened to capsize many of the region’s finest vignerons. The estate’s biodynamic principles meant that applying the preparations and treatments proved challenging when one day out of every three was rainy. The harvest commenced on September 21 in Corton and finished nine days later in Echezeaux, the secateurs put back into their sheaths when the heavens opened on September 25 and 26. Yields are recorded at 20 hectoliters per hectare, which is approximately 25% less than usual. That said, upon entering the reception area I was confronted with what appeared to be the entire allocation for the United States shrink-wrapped on towering pallets. You have to remember that this is for one of the largest countries in the world. These barrel samples are rather academic. These wines are not available for another year and readers will find bottled reviews, which I have written every February since 1998, more relevant since the wines will be finished and ready for sale. However, I decided to publish these notes so that they can be juxtaposed against their peers and my remarks in 12 months time. One point that I found interesting was the more prudent use of stems, logical when you consider that the lack of sunshine in the early part of the season would mean not all stems would have been fully lignified. Therefore, the pickers had to patiently wait until the berries were fully ripe. You do not need me to tell you that their 2012s are variations upon “spellbinding” and will doubtless cost a pretty penny. Truth is, there are cheaper alternatives out there, many of which I have praised in my recent report. There is only one thing – they are not Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.
Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
“As if, in this square of earth, the gods had bequeathed us a memory of the fascinating vestige of a timeless perfection.” — Richard Olney. The wine of Prince de Conti, she is velvet, seduction and mystery. It is the most Proustian of all great wines.
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is without question the most famous estate in Burgundy and arguably the greatest, producing some of the best wines in the world. It is probably one of the most traditional wineries in France. Wines are produced in small quantities while the demand is huge. The domaine has 25 hectares of vineyards, all Grand Crus, including the jewel in the crown, the 1.8 hectare monopole of Romanée Conti.
Romanée-Conti, a vineyard of four and a half acres,was originally the property of the Abbey of St. Vivant. In 1760 Prince Conti acquired it against the competition of a famous collector of jewellery, Madame de Pompadour – the king’s minister against the king’s mistress. He withdrew it from the market and reserved it for his own dazzling social events. It was he who created the myth surrounding Romanée-Conti.
The price of this tiny, treasured vineyard was 80.000 livres, which in those days was worth a small kingdom. Reclaimed as property of the nation during the Revolution, the vineyard passed through the hands of several proprietors to an ancestor of the present owner for 14.000 gold pounds in 1868.
–We are the keeper of a certain philosophy of wine and, mainly, we are concerned by the perfection in details" assures Aubert de Villaine.
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.
Wine Information
2012 Vintage
In some years the birth of a vintage is easy. The vigneron's intervention is quiet and rare, as that of the crew of a sailboat navigating by calm weather. But it is not rare that the road towards the birth of a vintage looks like war, a constant fight to keep the boat afloat without too much damage. That was the case in 2012, a unique vintage - but which isn't? -and those who were in the front line will remember for a long time the fights that Nature imposed on us by putting forward its best "soldiers": mildew and oidium.
March was dry however and almost like summer (average of 22°C), which caused an early budburst, even earlier than in 2007, a year of reference for precocity. We could already see ourselves harvesting in August! But what we kept in mind during this outstanding month was the thunder that rumbled on March 26th. This situation was exceptional, but premonitory to what gods had in store for Nicolas Jacob, our vineyard manager, and his team.
From April, we saw a complete change in the weather: cold (- 2° C on April 13th) and humidity set in. As a result it was impossible to enter the vineyards to do the ploughing and with all the rain grass grew like crazy. For the same reasons, it was extremely difficult to apply the treatments: we had to watch out for the smallest "window" of dry weather to give the vines the needed protection. Despite constant attention, mildew appeared and even struck very hard causing a loss of the crop that was difficult to evaluate. Oidium also developed with those favorable conditions. Even hail came hitting the whole Côte de Beaune and especially our Montrachet, on June 30th. Flowering began around June 9th and, due to the cold temperatures, spread out over one month. Coulure was, as we could expect, significant.
What was the assessment of those three months when it rained every three days! :
- the crop was already reduced because of coulure and oidium and there was a risk of differences in ripeness as the flowering was very spread out ;
- but at the same time coulure created a noticeable percentage of millerandage berries, which is always a factor to quality ;
- the vineyards were vigorous and healthy ;
- another positive point: after a fast beginning, like a sprinter, the development of vegetation was slower and as a consequence we could do all the manual works, pruning for instance, without hurrying and with efficiency ;
- and of course the growing season returned almost to normal. From the flowering we were aware that the harvest would take place only at the end of September.
In late June, there was a last "eccentric" episode: a few scorching days 'burnt'' the young berries that were the most exposed to the sun resulting in a reduction of the crop. We knew that an additional sorting at harvest time would be necessary to eliminate these berries.
In July, at last, Nature became wiser. We had losses, but the enemy was retreating. Thanks to milder conditions, we could resume ploughing, sometimes three consecutive times, in order to free the vineyards from the invading grass.
The last treatments were performed in early August as a precaution. We only had to hope for better weather, closer to what we are used to.
This is what finally happened.
August was warm and beautiful with a heat wave and storms around the 15th. Each time, although the wind was often blowing from the South, the beautiful weather returned. The vineyards, thanks to the rainy weather that had preceded, could generously feed the grapes. The work of photosynthesis was favored and the production of sugar increased rapidly. On the eve of the harvest we could observe the following:
- the clusters had small grapes with very thick skins and a lot of millerandage,
- quite a number of the grapes exposed to the sun had "burnt" during the heat waves, especially in June. On some grapes, one or two berries remained green. These would be removed at the harvest,
- there was no trace of botrytis at all.
To sum up, the grapes were healthy and we could wait until full ripeness. This is exactly what we did, running the risk of going beyond the 100 days that normally separate the mid-flowering from the harvest.
We finally began the picking in Corton and a few other young vineyards in Vosne-Romanée on Friday, September 21st, with a small team and the "big harvest" started in Vosne-Romanée on September 24th. Unfortunately there was a change for the worse in the weather on Tuesday and on Wednesday, it rained all day long. We of course stopped the harvest and waited with anguish as we feared the attacks of botrytis the day after... But it did not come!!
Two phenomena allowed preserving the grapes from any attacks: the skins of the grapes were thick and resistant, and temperatures were cold, very cold for the season, which kept botrytis from developing. The harvest was in a perfect sanitary state.
Of course, as usual, we had to perform a selective picking: let fall the "burnt" berries was the main work. In other words, selection was easy and we saw a beautiful crop filing past on the sorting table, one of the most beautiful in recent years. As the weather was cool, we had no problem at all when the grapes were brought into the winery. The temperature was around 15°C. Fermentation started slowly and progressively after a few days of maceration.
Fermentations have lasted for three weeks now under the "loving" supervision of Bernard Noblet and his staff. First devattings started with Romanée-Conti that, considering its level of maturity, was the first one to be harvested. The wines are promising with beautiful colors, fresh and delicate fragrances.
A separate chapter is necessary for the Montrachet, as the Côte de Beaune has been hit by hail twice and grapes have consequently suffered a lot. The harvest took place on September 28th before ending the harvest of red wines. The grapes were spoilt by botrytis, oidium and hail and a very selective sorting had to be made. The crop is very small, the smallest of these last years. We can count on an excellent quality, but the yield is barely half of normal.
The yields of red wines are approximately 20hl/ha, that is around 25% less than usual. In comparison, in 2009 the yields were 30hl/ha.
In such a year, we realize more than ever - if need be - the importance of luck and gambling in the success or the failure in the face of a vintage. Repeating what I said last year, it is essential to wait until the grapes are fully ripe. It was easier this year with healthy grapes. But in both cases, we had to wait until full maturity and we were fortunate enough that the weather conditions were our ally: the cold permitted the grapes to go through the heavy rains that we experienced on Wednesday September 26th without being attacked by botrytis.
It is obvious that the loss of the crop that resulted from the mildew attacks and heat waves was significant. But this was also a factor that favored quality. This natural thinning reduced the yield, but enabled the healthy grapes to ripen more fully It is very likely that we would not have reached such a maturity and quality if we had not lost a part of the crop.
The harvest proceeded in the following order:
Corton .......................... September 21st
Romanée-Conti ............. September 22nd
Grands-Echezeaux ......... September 23rd, 24th & 25th
La Tâche ....................... September 25th & 27th
Richebourg .................... September 27th & 28th
Montrachet .................... September 28th
Romanée-St-Vivant ....... September 28th & 29th
Echezeaux ..................... September 29th & 30th
Vuosikerta 2012
2012 was beset by unusual weather that didn’t spare the vines! A mild winter, spring-like March, cool spring with frosts, summer-like May, cooler, wetter June, a variable summer with heatwaves, hail and storms… Because of the cold damp spring, some of the vine flowers didn’t set and form fruit, there was millerandage (where the flowers aren’t fully fertilised and give small berries) and high pressure from mildew and odium. Temperatures went right up during the short periods, over-heating and scorching the berries. This weather caused a significant fall in yields, without, however, impacting on the quality of the grapes, as well spread out bunches with small berries guarantee concentration and intensity.
All in all, the grapes achieved good ripeness in aromas and good sugar to acidity balance. The white wines are characterised by their finesse and concentration. The reds set themselves apart with their lovely colours, ripe and silky tannins and their harmonious mouthfeel
Viinilasisuositus
Viinin keskihinta
| 2015 |
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| 11 322€ |
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.