1996 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti Grand Cru
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Tasting notes
The 1996 Romanée-Conti Grand Cru was picked on September 30 at 28hl/ha. It is a wine that I have not tasted since it was first bottled. It blew me away back then. Now? It has a deep core with a tawny rim. The bouquet is haunting with dark fruit, brine and oyster shell, discrete aromas of truffle percolating through with time. This is amazingly well focused. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, more dark fruit than red, perhaps more masculine with a strong marine/estuarine influence. For the first 20 minutes this is vying for one of the best vintages and yet in the glass it does not seem to "kick on" like the 1999 or 2005. It just feels a little static, akin to reading a page-turning novel that is missing the final chapter. 6,101 bottles produced. Tasted at the Romanée-Conti dinner at the Connaught Hotel.
Critic scores
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
This is among the world's most expensive wines (as far as I know only certain late harvest wines from Germany are more expensive). It has a gorgeously bright dark ruby/purple color and extremely complex aromatics of fresh herbs, Asian spices, creamy cherries, super-ripe blackberries, and vanilla-imbued oak. This superb wine offers a mouthful of silky-textured cherries, blueberries, plums, boysenberries, earth, minerals, and spiced oak. This masterpiece is full-bodied, dense (yet extremely elegant and defined), thickly-textured, and immensely concentrated. Moreover, I sensed this wine was holding a significant amount in reserve! Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661.
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.