97 / B-
Tasted by Mike Supple - 30 Jan 2009
Dark amber color in the core with a lighter brick red rim. Complex aromas pour out of the glass: brown sugar, bacon, black cherry, earth, black truffles, sweet tea and tobacco. The palate entry is incredibly smooth and the tannins are fully integrated into the wine. Flavors of coffee and toffee surround black cherry, brown sugar, bacon, smoky earth and wet stone with a lingering cherry and soy sauce note. The acid is relatively high, keeping the wine impressively fresh. The flavors linger on for quite a while.
The aromas and flavors seem to be fully developed at this point, and the earthy and spicy characteristics fully dominate the remaining fruit. While an impressive wine, it is likely on its down swing, so I would recommend drinking it rather than holding on to it for too much longer.
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Tags: 1985, amber, bacon, black, brick, brown sugar, Burgundy, cherry, coffee, conti, cote du nuits, drc, earth, france, grand cru, la tache, pinot noir, red wine, romanee, smoke, soy sauce, stone, tea, tobacco, toffee, truffle
Mike,
I’ve been reading about these wines and considered writing a book entitled,”some of the best wines that I’ve never tasted!” Was this encounter simply aquired at a tasting or did have an entire bottle to sample? Considering they sell for $4500.00, 1985 Domaine de la Romanee Conti La Tache is what I would call above my pay grade to say the least and do I understand your grading system correctly that you are giving this wine a B - grade? BTW, thanks for thanks for stopping Cuvee Corner and your kind comments!
Bill,
Thanks for the comment. This is way out of my normal drinking range as well, but I did have the entire bottle with some friends. My fiancée managed to talk a restaurant into letting us buy it and take it home a little over a year ago. Paid $700 for it, which is an absolute steal. I sat on it for another year and we opened it to celebrate.
In a strict quality sense, I gave the wine a 97 point score: it was amazingly expressive and complex. I did give it a B- for value. At first glance it may seem that a wine of this price should get an F for value, but when giving the value score I take in to account everything about the wine. Getting a bottle of Pinot Noir of this amazing quality from anywhere in the world is so incredibly rare. Also taking in to account its ability to age and the fact that it comes from one of Burgundy’s most prestigious domains, I feel that it is justified in receiving this score. That doesn’t mean everybody should rush out and buy it, but for somebody looking for something truly exceptional (or someone who simply has plenty of money to spend on wine) then this wine is more than worth the money. (If you haven’t read it, this page describes my full explanation of the value grades: http://www.supplewine.com/grades/. A score of C is worth the money. Anything above is more than worth it, anything below is less.)
Cheers,
Mike