2019 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Romanee-Conti Grand Cru 1x75cl

Antonio Galloni 99

The 2019 Romanee-Conti Grand Cru is powerful, dense and explosive right out of the gate. I often find Romanee-Conti to be an elusive wine, a Burgundy that does not reveal everything right away. That may turn out to be the case here as well, but at the same time there is no denying the wine’s remarkable intensity. Lavender, sage, tobacco and menthol emerge over time, playing beautifully off a core of dark-toned fruit. There is an exotic quality to the 2019 that is hard to fully describe. All I can say is that I have never tasted a Romanee-Conti like this. [Antonio Galloni, 30/06/2022]

Anticipated maturity: 2034-2079

Neal Martin 100

The 2019 Romanee-Conti Grand Cru was picked on 17 of September at 22.5hL/ha. I left my glass for five minutes before the first sip since it does not like to give everything away at first pouring. Firstly, it is a little deeper in colour than other recent vintages. Waiting for the wine to open pays dividends, revealing exquisitely-defined brambly red fruit, incense and red roses. There is a very slight gamey element, not strong, but just lingers off-stage. The palate is medium-bodied with lace-like tannins that frame the otherworldly, pure, red fruit. It is perfectly balanced and bewitchingly pure, a crescendo of flavour that this year, at least at this early juncture, put the La Tache in its place. So elegant on the finish and remarkably persistent, this is just perfection in a glass. 409 cases produced. Tasted at Corney & Barrow s annual in bottle tasting in London. [Neal Martin, 11/02/2022]

Anticipated maturity: 2026-2060

JancisRobinson.com 19.5

Adam Brett-Smith of Corney & Barrow wrote about his experience of tasting this in Vosne, To be swallowed is the tradition of the Domaine when tasting Romanee-Conti, after you have shuffled the other Grands Crus into some sort of comparative order and prepared yourself for this, the most subjective, mythical, adjectively elusive of all wines. Unlike last year when, for reasons of Covid restrictions we tasted here, at 1 Thomas More Street, we heard faintly once again, the 12-noon tolling of the Angelus bell in the church at Vosne-Romanee above the near-silent cellar room at the Domaine. A little more restrained on the nose than the Tache. Intense nose that has hints of blackcurrant! More majestic than La Tache. Not as approachable but certainly at least as magnificent – even more so. And then on the palate there is such integrity! Such concentration of pure Pinot grown with care. Great life. If I try to contrast this with Leroy wines (for obvious reasons), the DRC style is definitely more restrained, more obviously dry, but just as persistent. A monument. [04/02/2022]

Anticipated maturity: 2030-2050

Wine Advocate 100

The 2019 Romanee-Conti Grand Cru is a wine that brought tears to my eyes. Unfurling in the glass with scents of rose petals, black tea, wild berries, exotic spices, violets, bergamot and licorice, it’s full-bodied, sensual and enveloping, with a broad attack that segues into a weightless but pungently intense mid-palate defined by striking energy and precision. Seamless and elegant, with melting tannins and mouthwatering acids, it concludes with an expansive, intensely floral finish. It’s a monument in the making. [William Kelley, 02/01/2022]

Anticipated maturity: 2033-2070