Domaine Romane-Conti 2000 at Castelleuroin Villa

by Filippo Bartolotta

Some time ago I had the chance to taste, or I should have said, to drink the six Grand Cr of Romane-Conti.These wines are assigned to important restaurants and exclusive clients and usually are drank some time later or put back in the market for a higher price.On release starting prices for an Echezeaux, would be over the 100 whether a bottle of Romane-Conti.would be over 1000.As a professional wine taster usually I eurotasteeuro more wines then I drink. Very often I also question how much can one get out of a tasting of over 100 wines. The answer is that we live in an imperfect world and to get things done one has to accept a certain degree of compromises.This is to say that tasting like professionals do might not be the ultimate way to appreciate wine but it is the best we can do in a given time.But the greatet thing about wine is to drink it and share it with friends and passionate people like yourself!So every once in a while I catch up with a wine club of mine in Tuscany. Our motto: 7 wines for 7 people.We first choose the wine subject, then we selet a chef to cook around our it.This evenings give me a great opportnunity to enjoy wine at its best. We start tasting the wines before dinner and then we carry on drinking with dinner.Iteuros interesting to notice how usually during the tasting everyone seems to lean towards more muscular, denser, sweeter, smoother wines against the more acidic, austere, tannic and silent ones. Then though while having dinner the more approachable bottles, the spicier ones slow down on the drinking peace while the others go faster.It is a very educating exercise which tells a lot about wine competitions, etc .I have to say that with the DRC wines we had didneurot struggle neither at the beginning nor at the end.The seventh wine was a Castelleuroin Villa Riserva 1986. I had this wine several time now also with the 1982 vintage from the Principessa Pignatelli who has been our kind host of the evening. Her Chianti Classicos doneurot seem to be getting tired, always showing the classic leather, cherry, licorice, violets and earthy tones and a sweet lenghty soft delicate palate.I love this kind of very balanced low alcoholic/no burning old-school Tuscans!So, as anticipated, this time our selction was pretty cool. Thanks to our Carlo Buttiglioni, from the Enoteca Rivella in Siena, we come across to a case of Domaine Romane-Conti.This is the most famous and higest rated estate in Burgundy, model of imitation of Pinot Noir around the clock.25 hectars of Grand Cr arranged into six different crs eurosingle vineyard- vinified and bottled separatley each year: Saint Vivant, Echezaux, Grand Echezaux, Richbourg, La Tache and Romane de la Romane Conti.

Romane is an organic/biodynimic estate where the vine density can go as far as 15000 per hectar. To give you an idea of numbers, a traditional Tuscan vineyard would be 2700 and a more modern one 5-6000.Although the Domaine as we know it today was built only a century ago by Jacques-Marie Duvault-Blochet -one of the most important vineyard owners in after-revolution Burgundy- the vineyards have got a longer history starting from XV 1451. Apparently the monks of the St. Vivant monastry gave away to the Croonembourg family the small vineyard of Cros del Clou. The family in 1760 sold it to Prince after changing the name Cros de Clou into Romane. Romane-Conti, already know at the time as the best site in Burgundy was offically born.Today, Aubert de Villaine, born and raised in the Domaine, is co-director euro with the Bize-Leroy, and Roche families- from 1974 of Domaine de La Romane Cont with the main pourpose to let the fruit of the six Grand Crus express itself as pure as possible.And I have to say that the six wines always show an extremely different character despite the vines are close to one another.Despite the huge difference among the six, from the delicate Echezeaux to the monumental La Tache structure, the wines have a lot in common: density, intense and seductive perfumes, uplifting alcohol and tannic balance and a never ending drinkability.

The tasting

Domaine de la Romane-Cont, chezeaux 2000Bright and intense ruby with a very floral broad nose with some truffles and earth.Very velvetty attack on the palate with lovely strawberries and ripe cherries and a toasted coff finish.Very fresh mouthfill with super sweet caressing tannins, this was maybe the most friendly of the evening.

Domaine de la Romane-Conti, Grands-chezeaux 2000Light and bright ruby colour with a less open friendly nose of balck truffles, musk and game.Way more robust palate with more concentration and black fruit but less ready and less soft then Echezeaux,. This is a wine with a classy depht and unforgiving structure with a very long shelf life.

Domaine de la Romane-Conti, Romane Saint Vivant 2000Vibrant intense ruby.Powerful spicey notes with very generous fruit aromas and a leathery complexity. Very dense, very concentrated with a more vanilla toasty notes and broader riper fruit driven character, very young still less subtle now.

Domaine de la Romane-Conti, Richebourg 2000Clear clean dense ruby.Cherries and red-currants with elegant floral, graphite and quinine notes.Very important tannins and a savoury/mineral mouthfil give this wine a fantastic structure and lenght, maybe the longest of the lot. Great acidity, noble and reserved with sweet tannic touch.Una grandiosa acidit ed una elegante riservatezza per un vino molto fine e persistente.

Domaine de la Romane-Conti, La Tache 2000Much darker ruby then the rest.The olfactory notes here are very concentrated and yet subtle: cloves dark cehrries, chocolate powder and a tobacco/coffe intensity.Big tannins although very pleasant and balanced out by a jucy acidity/savouriness with a persistent back tea leaves and mushrooms. Very lingering, very concentrated and powerful.

Domaine de la Romane-Conti, Romane-Conti 2000Ruby with some garnet hues.Roses and violets with a gamey and hay stacks nose. Strawberry jam and balsamic hints on the palate with an extremely fresh and so easy to drink character and yet super complex. Iteuros a very dense and concentrated pleasute so easy to enjoy, to drink and to finish the glass in one go!

Food Matching of the evening.

Wild boar mousse with roasted seasonalHand made taglierini with wild duck sauceLamb medallions with potatoes and carotsBraised PigeonCrme Brul