2018 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, La Tache Grand Cru 1x750ml

Burghound 95-98

This is unusually cool and airy in the context of what is typical in 2018 with its restrained and beautifully layered nose of rose petal, violet, lavender, lilac, sandalwood and soy nuances that add incredible breadth to the mostly red berry-suffused aromas. There is outstanding volume to the big, muscular and robust flavors that also possess focused power where the intensity does a slow build from the mid-palate to the explosively long finish. This is somewhat less 2018 in style than the prior wines though it is clearly ripe. This is perhaps a bit less refined than it usually is, at least at this early stage, though it is also still in its formative stages so we will see how it comes along more clearly next year when it is bottled. I would observe though that it is already abundantly clear that this is going to develop quite slowly over a very long period. [Allen Meadows, 01/10/2020]