Description
The 2014 La Tâche Grand Cru was picked on 17, 18 and 20 September at 32 hectoliters per hectare, bottled between 1 and 25 April 2016. It has a quite startling bouquet: dark berry fruit, bay leaf, hints of jasmine tea and autumn leaves. It delivers multi-faceted aromatics, a mercurial bouquet, brown spices emerging with continued aeration in the glass. It is a tad more forward than I expected. The palate is medium-bodied with great structure and fine grip. This is a slightly more masculine La Tâche and replicating its performance in barrel, the fruit spectrum shimmies from red to black (incidentally, exactly as I observed when I tasted it in barrel). There is a lovely lift on the finish that leaves you with a piquant kiss on the cheek. This is wonderful. 1,929 cases produced. Tasted February 2017.
Importer Information:
Corney & Barrow
1 Thomas More Street, London, E1W 1YZ
0207 265 2430
[email protected]
www.corneyandbarrow.com
Wilson Daniels Ltd
St. Helena, CA
(707) 963-9661
www.wilsondaniels.com
Rating
(96 – 98)
Release Price
NA
Drink Date
2020 – 2050
Reviewed by
Neal Martin
Issue Date
30th Dec 2015
Source
222, The Wine Advocate
The 2014 La Tâche Grand Cru is a very refined nose, so much so that blind I might mistake it from Romanée-Conti (as I opined to Bertrand de Villaine himself). Very precise, extremely pure and with wonderful mineralité, there is a lucidity embroidered into this wine. The palate is medium-bodied, symmetrical, with a little edginess creeping in here that lends the finish a sense of animation. The fruit shades from red to more black as it opens, yet the aftertaste is extraordinarily long and persistent. There is a kind of magic in this La Tâche.
Before commenting upon Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s wines, I should re-emphasize as I did last year, that tasting this illustrious domaine’s wines from barrel is for academic purposes. These 2014s will not be offered to consumers until they are in bottle and of course, they will inevitably change and evolve in the intervening period, as all Burgundy wines are prone to do between barrel and bottle. On the other hand, I personally find it educational to chart their progress from prenatal wines in barrel, through their respective élevages, then not only in bottle after release, but (fingers crossed) during their lifetime. This is why I always post mature bottle notes in my “Up From The Cellar” series. I do hope readers gain vicarious pleasure from these barrel notes, some insight from the commentary that will complement the article composed when I eventually taste them again in bottle.
I tasted through these wines with the stocky but affable Bertrand de Villaine, who is now taking more and more daily responsibilities from his uncle Aubert. It was one of the most interesting barrel tastings that I have performed in their hallowed cellars. That does not imply they were the greatest that I have ever tasted. Bertrand kindly left me to my own thoughts as I tasted through the reds, but requested my thoughts afterwards. I felt that this was a septet of mischievous children, teasing me by mimicking each other’s personalities. La Tâche and Romanée-Conti had decided to swap, the former so ineffably discrete, Romanée-Conti “putting it out” there and letting it’s hair down. Picture an Oxford don doing the conga. Richebourg decided to align itself with La Tâche and seemed to accentuate it tertiary qualities whereas Romanée-Saint-Vivant was more like Grands Echézeaux, and so damn seductive that one had to resist temptation and call over to Bernard Noblet, a lanky lighthouse what with that lamp strapped around his head, and order him to bottle it immediately.
Do you see what I mean?
It made the tasting…fun. You almost felt like ordering the “children” to stop their folly and return to their usual personalities.
Aubert de Villaine, who greeted me over in his office before we serendipitously bumped into each other a couple of hours later in a sandwich bar, presented me with his usual poetically written summary of the growing season, but I’ll save that un
- Country: France
- Region: Burgundy
- Appellation: Cote De Nuits
- Sub Appellation: Vosne Romanee
- Size: 750ml
- Color: Red
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Regularly described as being the grape varietal responsible for producing the world’s most romantic wines, Pinot Noir has long been associated with elegance and a broad range of flavors The name means ‘black pine’ in French, and this is due to the fact that the fruit of this particular varietal is especially dark in color, and hangs in a conical shape, like that of a pine cone. Despite being grown today in almost every wine producing country, Pinot Noir is a notoriously difficult grape variety to cultivate. This is because it is especially susceptible to various forms of mold and mildew, and thrives best in steady, cooler climates. However, the quality of the fruit has ensured that wineries and vintners have persevered with the varietal, and new technologies and methods have overcome many of the problems it presents. Alongside this, the wide popularity and enthusiasm for this grape has ensured it will remain a firm favorite amongst wine drinkers for many years to come.
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