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Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St.-Vivant 1999

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St.-Vivant 1999

Breathtaking, transcendant and pure, the 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St.-Vivant is a woven tapestry of raspberries, cinnamon bark and fresh pastry, along with subtle touches of earth, underbrush, and lilting minerality. More diaphanous than the ’99 La Tâche or Richebourg, the words that this wine conjures are vibrant, ethereal, fine-boned and mineral-edged. This is […]

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 1999

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 1999

I’ve been holding off on posting notes for months, DRC is admittedly, an intimidating wine to write about. The 1999 Richebourg is a pinnacle wine, the sweetest nocturne, a walled-in garden of the soul. Heady, slowly unfurling layers of rose petals, dark loamy earth, mahogany wood, black cherry, crab apple, game, and forest floor. On […]

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 1999

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 1999

The 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche is a transcendent bottle, wherein no one element dominates, it’s in absolute harmony, not unlike a great piece of music or art. It has pronounced power, and is at the same time weightless and ethereal. Layers of crushed raspberries, currants, blackberries and plum give substance to more […]

Lucien le Moine Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2002

Lucien le Moine Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2002

As the 2002 Lucien le Moine Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru develops in the glass it starts off with more classic notes of forest brambles, freshly turned tilth, dried rose petals and red fruit. The impression evolves, however, to darker black cherries and even a whiff of dark chocolate powder. On the palate, tart, high-toned red forest […]

Laurent Roumier Chambolle-Musigny 2010

Laurent Roumier Chambolle-Musigny 2010

The 2010 Laurent Roumier Chambolle-Musigny is perhaps just entering its drinking window, though it is important to note that this is a half bottle. The aromatics are intriguing, and firstly floral. Lilacs and apple blossom give way to seedy raspberries, plum and damp tilth. Perhaps what is most striking are the camphor and mint notes […]

Robert Groffier Père & Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2002

Robert Groffier Père & Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2002

The Robert Groffier Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2002 is an endless ribbon of garnet-hued silk. Black cherries, dried rose petals, rich humic soil, and wild mushrooms waft from the glass. Sensual, viscous and more generously styled as compared to the Bouchard Clos de Bèze tasted earlier this week. High toned red fruit—pomegranate and rose […]

Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2002

Bouchard Père et Fils Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2002

Marly limestone enriched by traces of iron is the primary soil type in Clos de Bèze vineyard parcels, and this vineyard has under cultivation for a very long time, since the 7th century. The 2002 Bouchard Père & Fils Chambertin Clos de Bèze is rustic and austere, though charmingly so, with barnyard, wet hay, game, […]

Lucien le Moine Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2003

Lucien le Moine Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 2003

2003 was a year of extremes in Burgundy, with spring frosts and crippling heatwaves later in the summer, so how did the Lucien le Moine Chambertin-Clos de Bèze fare? Extremely well. Penetrating aromas of cherry and black raspberry, dried leaves, forest floor, woodspice, and anise lead into firm structure and a brooding, sensual intensity. Mineral […]

Méo-Camuzet Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Aux Boudots 2002

Méo-Camuzet Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Aux Boudots 2002

2002 was a very good vintage in Burgundy, with uniform ripening. This 2002 Meó-Camuzet Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Boudots is drinking admirably. Garnet-hued and opaque, I’m quite certain it it was neither fined nor filtered. Layered aromatics of rose petal and forest in early fall. Damp earth, roasted game, wild strawberries, raspberries and anise. It’s still vibrant and […]

Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 2001

Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 2001

The Leroy Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts 2001 possesses a sublime, deep inner perfume of dewy meadow flowers, crushed raspberry, forest floor and pitched top-notes of pine and incense. Ruby and translucent, it’s incredibly fresh and vibrant with subtle complexity on the palate. Layers of wild red berries, iron, spiced crabapple and rose hips […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com