2007 Grands Echezeaux

The Domaine de La Romanee-Conti 2007 Grands-Echezeaux exhibits a rich, roasted meat dimension to parallel its sweetness of ripe red raspberry and cherry, with hints of vanilla and caramel adding a confectionary hint, and a flatteringly plush, creamy texture. Cardamom, soy, and ginger add pungency and savor to a long, layered finishing melange. Follow it for at least 10-12 years. Domaine de La Romanee-Conti director Aubert de Villaine perceives both the estate’s 2008 and 2007 collections as vins de garde, and I can’t argue with that assessment, even though when I first tasted the 2007s – soon after they had come out of malo – I harbored reservations, wondering whether to interpret de Villaine’s description of them as “ethereal” to read “ephemeral.” He says holding back the usual 5% share of production for the Domaine’s own cellar was difficult in the greatly reduced 2008 vintage, and that he is already regretting not having arranged to bottle a larger share in magnum. He still had time when I visited in April to reconsider the bottle format for three appellations, which were the only ones I was able to taste, since De Villaine is loathe to show wines in the first 9-12 months after bottling. (I’ll report on the full 2008 collection from bottle at a later date.) If the 2007s here were unusual for that vintage in the degree to which they gained stature in the course of elevage, such behavior was normal when it came to 2008, so that I was not surprised to hear de Villaine remark on a new-found degree of confidence in the stature of that collection. To an even greater degree than in most vintages, success in 2007 and 2008 came down to meticulousness at every stage; to quality of vine material; and to location, in all of which respects no estate in Burgundy has any advantage over the Domaine de La Romanee-Conti. Interestingly, the estate lingered no longer over the picking of their 2008s – from the first of the La Tache on September 27 to the last of the Echezeaux on October 6 – than they had over the 2007s, which were picked from September 1-11. The inclusion of stems was lowered to less than half in 2007, incidentally, but in 2008 was typically closer to three-quarters. Vendange entier is a technique not only time-honored and in continuous use at the Domaine de La Romanee-Conti (even when it fell out of favor at most Burgundy estates in the waning 20th century), but one which de Villaine and cellarmaster Bernard Noblet have subjected to repeated testing, so as to establish in any given vintage the right balance between 100% de-stemmed (“which lacks something by way of complexity,” says de Villaine) and 100% (“which can be too marked by the stems,” he continues). Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661

Good bright medium red. Cherry liqueur, black raspberry and smoke on the sweet nose, along with some spicy oak. Offers more volume and breadth than the Echezeaux without any impression of weight thanks to piquant underlying minerality. Wonderfully silky and suave wine, finishing with building tannins, superb length and a strong impression of sucrosite. (ST)

Quite pale – paler than the Échezeaux. Initial fruit impression is a little darker, slightly smoky and a tiny bit stemmy, maybe even a mushroom edge. Definitely less fragrant and more closed than the Échezeaux at this stage. Tighter, a little firmer grip, with the structure more visible. Acidity seems more marked too but it is still well in balance. (JH)