ROMANEE CONTI La Tâche 2011

Bright, full red. Sexy, multidimensional nose offers red berries, crushed stone, Oriental spices and a pungent smoky complexity. Wonderfully silky and concentrated, with dark raspberry, licorice and mineral flavors combining density and a light touch. This boasts a near-perfect balance of fruits, minerals, acidity and suave, fine-grained tannins. The slowly mounting finish saturates every square millimeter of the palate and builds inexorably. A great showing today. DRC produced 68 barrels of this juice in 2011: you do the math.

The La Tache 2011, picked on 5 and 6 September at 27.49hl/ha, has a wonderful bouquet that is quintessential La Tache: very complete and harmonious, beautifully delineated, succinct at first then with aeration, blossoming with brambly red berries, apple blossom, minerals and a touch of sous-bois. The palate is medium-bodied with immense purity and delicacy on the entry. This La Tache is extremely focused, velvety smooth in the mouth and although not as complex as the 2010, it has a beguiling femininity that will seduce at ten paces. It is extremely long in the mouth but politely does not outstay its welcome. Divine. 1,514 cases produced. Drink 2017-2040.