A notably floral nose consists of ripe plum, spice and plenty of earth while being trimmed in all-but-invisible oak. There is good power and muscle to the generously proportioned and notably rich big-bodied flavors that culminate in a robust finish that offers fine depth and length. This is not as concentrated as the best here but it's clear that the vineyard work continues to push the quality level forward each year.
Bright medium red Wild perfume of strawberry, raspberry, pepper, caramel and earth Lovely precision and lift to the tangy raspberry, cherry and spice flavors complicated by saline minerality Quite tight today, showing a restrained sweetness Finishes with firm-edged, slightly tough tannins and excellent length A very good vintage for this grand cru blend.
The 2014 Corton Grand Cru was picked on 16 September at 25 hectoliters per hectare. It has a beguiling bouquet with wonderful lift and transparency: morello cherry, crushed strawberry, a touch of orange blossom, aromas that are beautifully defined. The palate is well balanced with a little chalkiness on the entry. It is brimming with quite feisty tart red fruit, a little spicier than previous vintages. The finish is elegant and refined, not as complex as I suspect the 2015 Corton will eventually become, yet there is wonderful harmony and mineralité in situ. One of the more "airy" Cortons from the domaine. 483 cases produced. Tasted February 2017.
Importer Information:
Corney & Barrow
1 Thomas More Street, London, E1W 1YZ
0207 265 2430
sales@corneyandbarrow.com
www.corneyandbarrow.com
Wilson Daniels Ltd
St. Helena, CA
(707) 963-9661
www.wilsondaniels.com
Rating
(89 - 91)
Release Price
NA
Drink Date
2017 - 2030
Reviewed by
Neal Martin
Issue Date
30th Dec 2015
Source
222, The Wine Advocate
The 2014 Corton Grand Cru was tasted from a new barrel, although the final blend will be 50% new and 50% in those used for the 2013 vintage. It has a fresh and lively bouquet, a touch of earthiness infusing the red berry fruit, a hint of incense, a very "natural" Corton that unfurls in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannin, quite tensile in the mouth, again, quite earthy with a touch of stemminess on the finish that will be integrated by the time of bottling.
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 until the wines are in bottle. For now, just so that you can compare with other growers, the 80 pickers unsheathed the secateurs on September 16 in Corton and finished in Echézeaux on September 26.
The Domaine’s Corton, which debuted with the 2009 vintage, is a blend of Bressandes, Clos du Roi and Rénardes. The 2014 displays a pale robe, opening in the glass to reveal aromas of red berries, cedary new oak and incipient nuances of soil and fallen leaves. On the palate the wine is fresh and refined, with a supple, elegant attack, a sapid mid-palate and a good finish. Happily, the Domaine doesn’t seem to have fallen prey to the suzukii fruit fly whose influence marks some 2014 Cortons; but 2014 does seem to have been a challenging year in this part of the Côte, and this is very much a delicate, mid-weight, savoury rendition of this classically powerful and robust appellation. Harvested on 16 September.
Pre-arrival
Case Only
