2016 Assorted 6-pack Grand Cru

The 2016 Romanée-Conti Grand Cru was picked on September 25 at 24hL/ha. As usual, I allowed it five or six minutes to open in the glass. It is a very subtle Romanée-Conti, more discreet than the 2016 La Tâche, but then you become entranced by its spellbinding purity and grace. It gradually builds aromatically, augmenting the black fruit with red, and developing scents of wild hedgerow and freshly tilled soil - almost a pastoral element. The palate is medium-bodied with extremely precise and fine tannin and notes of wild strawberry, cranberry and crushed limestone. This feels very harmonious, the texture silkier than the La Tâche, displaying just a touch of bay leaf and black pepper toward the sustained finish, which gains depth and grip with aeration. Exquisite, though I suspect the La Tâche will challenge it for supremacy. 440 cases produced. Tasted at Corney & Barrow’s annual in-bottle tasting in London.

Vines aged 57 years. 24 hl/ha. Harvested 25 September. Bottled 19 April 2018. 440 dozen produced. Lightish ruby. Darker fruited than the Richebourg, but still red fruited. There’s a refined restraint at first then a seductive perfume starting to show at the heart of the aroma. The whole-bunch woodland freshness just lifts the wine and accentuates its soaring fragrance as it opens up. The palate almost surprises in its power and intensity, peppery and gently spiced but also that darker and more rocky/mineral dry texture and finish. So fresh, chewy in the most refined way possible. As it opens, the spice and the dustiness combine and is perfectly in harmony with the fruit and structure. Dark, almost savoury finish. Goes on forever. (JH)