So firstly, I would really like to say a huge thank you to the organiser of this grandiose tasting. I’m really not exaggerating when I say that on this damp January morning, yet another dream was fulfilled – sad but true!
So every-year I’d notice how the “select few” would attend this minute tasting of the DRC latest vintage release at the Corney and Barrow London HQ and I have always hoped that sooner, rather than later that somebody would care enough about my opinion to send me THE golden ticket…..ta da..its 2013 and i’ve got a golden ticket!
Well I must be honest, they wanted the Tasting Director and got the Exec. The big boss was luckily for me out of the country and asked me to go in her place. It was an honor to even be asked. A big shout out and thanks once again.
No point me going into too much detail on who are ” DRC”. Those of you who don’t know probably don’t care, lets be honest. What I will say is that it was top Burgundy that got me hooked, it was this elixir that got my taste buds screaming for more and made me become a tad more than slightly obsessed with this wine malarkey.
I’ve put together my impressions from the DRC 2010’s and I do hope that you find them not only interesting but also useful. And I hope that you too, also get a chance to try these fantastic examples of Pinot Noir, once you do I am sure you will get what all the hype is about. Proof that magic can be produced when a grape is in the right hands and soil.
Tasting Location: London, Corney and Barrow HQ
Date:31st January 2013
Corton, Vosne Romanée, Burgundy France 2010
Wow, what a perfume. Potpourri and dried Raspberries. Hints of white pepper. English strawberries, cream and a hint of toffee. Precise and elegant with great concentration and a complex nose. Dense and chewy palate, lively . Floral notes dominate the palate with a savoury edge. Sweet raspberries with a similar balance of sweet and sour that you usually get with a bowl packed with fresh raspberries . Long intense finish.
Échézeaux, Vosne Romanée, Burgundy France 2010
Intense, ripe burly nose packed with dried cranberries. Sweet, delicate floral fragrance with white pepper. Definitely increased levels of oak and secondary aromas when compared to the Corton with dashes of mocha. Also higher acidity levels than the corton, or at least it felt like that anyway. Definite wild strawberries. More delicate than the nose would suggest.
Grands Échézeaux, Vosne Romanée, Burgundy France 2010
Restrained nose, hints of oak but still very delicate. Subtle, especially when compared with Échézeaux. Very grown up on the mid-palate, seductive with lashings of savoury notes albeit restrained. Long sweet finish with hints of vanilla. A delicious gamey character and beautiful tannin structure with a stony almost turned earth mineral nuances.
Richebourg, Vosne Romanée, Burgundy France 2010
Violets fill the glass, with underlying hints of chocolate and coffee, vanilla even. Hints of thyme, maybe even rosemary. Very complex nose with less obvious fruit that the first wines. Steely and refreshing with a full ripe palate. Fresh red fruits. Something herbaceous almost even vegetal. Fine grained tannins. Flamboyant.
Romanée-St- Vivant, Vosne Romanée,Burgundy France 2010
Wow, on this one the yeast jumps right out of the glass. Creamy, yeasty pungent nose. Quite forward and expressive compared with the rest of the range. Beautiful smokiness – the strawberries are very ripe. Quite a surprise. Lovely spicy notes, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Definite raspberries with the finish going back to strawberry.
La Tâche, Vosne Romanée, Burgundy, France 2010
Violets and a meaty veal demi-glacé, very precise and tight. Luscious on the nose. Smells deep and voluptuous. So very floral. Red ripe fruit – strawberries. Good acidity adding to the finesse. Warming hints of vanilla and nutmeg. A bowl of fresh summer fruits.
Romanée-Conti, Vosne Romanée, Burgundy France 2010
Pristine. Rich open nose – beef demi glace. Lifted and refreshing notes of redcurrants, providing a refreshing acidity and sweetness. Smokey, charcoal nuance. Complex. Flinty, stony minerality. Lashings of strawberries. The palate is not as open as the nose, more restrained. Layers of fresh red fruit. Delicate and feminine – beautiful. Slight hints of thyme, coffee and demi glace shining through, but still keepings its delicacy. The finish is just so impressive and a lot fresher than the nose would have you believe.
knifeandflute 
This isn’t a golden ticket…. It’s pure platinum. Oh one day, one day!!