1996 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg Grand Cru
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Tasting notes
The 1996 Richebourg Grand Cru is a step above the previous vintage. It has a typical nose for the vintage, black instead of red fruit, a touch sullen at first, yet it brightens in the glass and delivers subtle ferrous, orange peel and mulch-like scents. The palate is medium-bodied with more structure and grunt than the '95, not a Richebourg with grace, yet sapid and with more persistency. This is thoroughly enjoyable, even if I don't think it will improve further after 28 years. Tasted at the Richebourg vertical dinner in Taipei.
Critic scores
Allen Meadows, Burghound
The Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 1996 Richebourg Grand Cru is drinking beautifully and might actually surpass La Tâche in this vintage; certainly, I have yet to drink a 1996 La Tâche as good as this particular bottle of Richebourg. Wafting from the glass with an inviting bouquet of plummy fruit mingled with wilted rose petals, peonies, exotic spices, orange rind and forest floor, it's full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with none of the vintage's tendency toward asperity in evidence, exhibiting melting tannins and a seamless, velvety profile. This is really beginning to show well today.
The 1996 Richebourg Grand Cru is a wine that I have drunk several times. The intense nose has opened a little since my last encounter, evolving to offer enticing scents of violet and earthenware notes; a hint of brine emerges with time. The palate is as introverted as previous bottles but opens with blackberry, meat juices and briar. There is quite a sharp line of acidity that keeps it edgy in style, and still that persistent finish. Superb. Tasted at the domaine with Bertrand de Villaine.
About the producer
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or simply “DRC” is without doubt the most famous domaine in Burgundy and one of the most famous producers on earth. The Grand Cru vineyard from which it takes its name produces the world’s most expensive wine by a long margin.