Domaine de la Romanee Conti La Tache Grand Cru 2015 750ml

The 2015 La Tâche Grand Cru is a young classic, soaring from the glass with an exotic and stunningly complex bouquet of dark berries, plums, hoisin, smoked duck, dark chocolate, licorice and Chinese five spice, with just a touch of rose hip on the upper register. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, multidimensional and authoritative, with more mid-palate depth than the Richebourg, its attack more textural and layered. The tannins here are fine grained but firm—swathed in an ample core of plummy, almost savory fruit—and the finish is long and scintillating. Cropped at 25 hectoliters per hectare and harvested September 7 and 8.

As is often the case in its youth, this easily possesses the most aromatic breadth of any wine in the range with an utterly kaleidoscopic nose that incorporates notes of Asian spice box elements, rose petal, lavender, lilac, orange pekoe tea and sandalwood. There is superb richness to the powerfully constituted flavors that possess outstanding delineation and intensity while displaying perhaps even more minerality than usual, all wrapped in a mildly warm finish that slowly fans out as it sits on the palate. This is one classy wine that manages to do what only the greatest of burgundies can, which is to wow you with its power without weight mouth palate impression. And if all of this weren't enough, the refinement and poise here are nothing short of riveting. While I am very careful when it comes to proclaiming that such and such a vintage of La Tâche will go down as one of the all-time greats, the 2015 version appears to have the potential to be one of them. Time will of course be the final arbiter but the underlying material is so good it's difficult to be less than super-enthusiastic.

The 2015 La Täche Grand Cru was picked at 25.55hl/ha on 7 and 8 September. This has a fascinating bouquet. The stem addition seems a little more transparent than the other crus from the domaine. The La Täche has darker fruit than the Richebourg mixed with black tea, bay leaf, a pinch of cracked black pepper and a slight bell pepper scent. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin on the entry, presaging a masculine and almost curmudgeonly La Tâche whereas in previous years it is comparatively amenable and open. It is long and deep, yet introspective until that jab of spice engages the senses on the finish. Interestingly, returning after 15 minutes the last third of this La Tâche manifests more depth and tension, a little more detail with hints of orange rind and more brown spices. It is a mercurial La Tâche as always, but would you want it any different? Tasted at Corney & Barrow's annual in bottle tasting in London.