DRC Reds with vintage conditions, sorted by vintage
| 1942 | vintage conditions | Beautiful weather during the whole season. There were some storms and hail, but the Domaine was not hit. Small yields. | ||
| 1942 | La Tache | Exotic--gamy--cherry flavors, a bit heavy, tannic, developing acetic undertones as it stayed in the glass. Nice concentration of fruit but short | 87-90 | |
| 1943 | vintage conditions | The whole season was exemplary. Fine weather. Rain at the right moment. Unfortunately, some hail in July, but most of the berries that were hit, dried and fell. Great vintage, still alive. | ||
| 1943 | Romanee Conti | Color slightly diluted, bouquet of rose petals and cherries, quite sweet, delicate wine with good tannins and acid | 90-92 | * |
| 1945 | vintage conditions | On May first, spring frosts hit most of the vineyards, even those high on the slopes. Very big storms at the end of June. Very small in quantity, however, the production was excellent in quality. The yield in Romanee Conti was extremely small, two barrels only, and the vines were soon torn out. | ||
| 1945 | Romanee Conti | Gamy -- smoky, almost syrah like nose, overall a tight structure with very jammy fruit flavors. I have had this wine three times before. This one seems slightly on the dry side. But it is still packed with fruit and still exceptionally well balanced | 96-98 | **** |
| 1947 | vintage conditions | Resembles the 1929. The yield was good, sometimes small. Very healthy grapes. The natural sugar contents were extremely high. Fermentations were difficult and the wines were also difficult to keep in barrels as they had a tendency to take volatile acidity. The good ones are monuments that defy time | ||
| 1947 | La Tache | Intense perfume in the nose -- powerful, exotic and spicy. Lush fruit taste, slightly short in the finish which makes it a lesser wine than the 1949 | 94-96 | *** |
| 1949 | vintage conditions | The flowering was poor, and then the summer was very hot and dry. The yield was made small because of "couleur". Results: extremely dense and tannic wines | ||
| 1949 | La Tache | A brooding wine from one of the greatest vintages in Burgundy. Great intensity and depth of flavor, still youthful, leathery with an amazingly long finish. Quite a remarkable evolution of flavors and bouquet as the wine sat in the glass. Just a tad short compared to the best bottles I've had of the 1949 La Tache from a dozen or so tastings over the last twenty years. | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1949 | Romanee St. Vivant | Great elegance. Exquisite. An enormous perfume of ripe cherries and strawberries, spicy sweet flavors, velvety texture, a great finish. It is true to RSV's reputed feminine character. Quite incredible considering that this bottle (my last bottle) had a very low fill. A tribute to the Domaine and to 1949. | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1957 | vintage conditions | Frosts again. North wind during all the season, rain in September : a lot of acidity and concentration. The wines have a definite vegetal character. Will keep very long and are still alive, deserve better that its reputation. | ||
| 1957 | La Tache | Loads of acidity which is softened out. Quite well balanced, lovely, flavorful, this wine has been drinking well for a number of years and will continue to do so for some years to come. | 90-92 | * |
| 1959 | vintage conditions | Very good flowering. A big crop was expected from the beginning. In fact the yields were exceptionally generous, but at the same time very ripe. The summer was dry and hot, with just a little rain at the beginning of September. The 1959 are rich and complex, and one of the best vintages ever made in that century | ||
| 1959 | Grands Echezeaux | Coffee beans -coca -exotic fruits in the nose, excellent richness and sweetness of the fruit, seemed slightly short initially but developed well, a beautiful wine | 94-96 | *** |
| 1959 | La Tache | Complex nose of oriental spices and truffles, almost a candy like sweetness, beautifully structured, absolutely lovely. | 96-98 | **** |
| 1959 | Richebourg | Round and expansive, again candy like sweetness, a more silky and softer style wine than the 59 La Tache. | 96-98 | **** |
| 1961 | vintage conditions | "Couleur" (unequal development) at the flowering with a lot of very small grapes and "millerandage" (mixed berry sizes in each cluster). Very healthy grapes thanks to a very nice, dry and hot summer. Small quantities and excellent quality that has taken ages to blossom. Among the best vintages of the 1960s. | ||
| 1961 | Grands Echezeaux | Some browning in the color, still plenty of sweetness of the fruit but drying in the finish. This bottle had a rather low-level | 90-92 | * |
| 1962 | vintage conditions | The only negative thing about 1962 is that it came after 1961! And its brightness is hidden by the reputation of 1961. Some rain in September, but the beautiful weather returned before the harvest. Good yields. Very good wines, sometimes exceptional like La Tache 1962. | ||
| 1962 | La Tache | Great balance of fruit and acidity -- a trademark 1962. Chewy, leathery, almost a chocolaty taste with excellent finesse. A bit drier than the other bottles of this wine I've had in the past but still quite extraordinary | 96-98 | **** |
| 1962 | Romanee Conti | Exotic nose of coffee beans and oriental spices. Totally rounded out with an opulent amount of sweet fruit inside a silky veneer. Very opulent for Romanee Conti -- and for a 1962 at that. "Are there any flaws in this wine?" I asked The answer: "none". A complete surprise | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1964 | vintage conditions | Very good flowering. Summer very hot with two storms bringing water. The yield was abundant, very pretty year which nevertheless has given wines with rich constitution and potential for aging | ||
| 1964 | La Tache | Coffee beans-ripe-aged nose. Great elegance. Lots of flavors but the finish is short. Not the best example of a 1964 La Tache which can be quite extraordinary (I had given it 96-98 in the past) | 92-94 | ** |
| 1964 | Richebourg | Fabulously rich and round, lovely pinot sweetness. It shows a typical DRC Richebourg character. Better than the 64 La Tache at this tasting. | 94-96 | *** |
| 1966 | vintage conditions | A vintage that did not start very well. Very humid in spring. However, good flowering. The summer was mediocre in July but rather good in August and glorious in September. Good acidities that helped create a vintage with one of the best aging potentials of the century | ||
| 1966 | La Tache | Two very different bottles. The better bottle was showing complexity, elegance and length -- sinewy wines packed with fruit. Because of strong acidity it requires long aging. | 94-96 | *** |
| 1967 | vintage conditions | Some frost in the spring in the lower vineyards including La Tache and Romanee St.Vivant. July and August were sunny, but, unfortunately, September was rainy. The results were variable, the style is light more than robust. | ||
| 1967 | Grands Echezeaux | Lighter style, sweetness dominates over acid. simple, good, drinkable. The 1967 La Tache, in contrast, can be excellent | 80-83 | |
| 1969 | vintage conditions | The summer was hot, but September was humid and cold. Maturation, however, was good, and the wines were tannic and had a good aging potential. Nevertheless it is a disappointing vintage compared to the expectations it had given after the very difficult vintages of 1967 and 1968. | ||
| 1969 | La Tache | Amber along the edges, nice flavors, but the acidity dominates to the extent that the wine is not balanced. A dry finish. Not a very successful year for DRC. | 87-90 | |
| 1971 | vintage conditions | Flowering was bad. June was rainy and cold. "Coulure". It hailed several times in August. With the addition of "millendrages", very small grapes were seen. The wines are concentrated. Great vintage for aging. | ||
| 1971 | Richebourg | Amber along the edges, exotic nose of coca, spices and coffee beans, elegant for a Richebourg. Developed a remarkable sweetness of fruit as it slowly came around in the glass | 94-96 | *** |
| 1971 | Grands Echezeaux | Spices in the nose, great elegance and finesse, sweetness of the fruit is quite astonishing | 94-96 | *** |
| 1971 | La Tache | Two slightly -- but only slightly--different bottles. One very youthful, leathery, slightly hot. The other with incredibly intense perfume of spices; silky and elegant. Extraordinary wine | 96-98 | **** |
| 1971 | Romanee Conti | Great complexity in the bouquet, almost a candy like sweetness on the taste, velvety, amazingly nuanced, complex and elegant, very long sweet finish. | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1972 | vintage conditions | The summer was cold, but clear without rain. The north wind blew during the whole month of September and concentrated the acidities. Very dark colors, concentration of acidities and tannins. The wines were not very seductive when young but gained a lot of qualities with age | ||
| 1972 | La Tache | Elegance and acidity are very evident but it also has nice sweet flavors. Well balanced. | 90-92 | * |
| 1972 | Grands Echezeaux | Gamy nose and high acid, which do not distract from the nice flavors and elegance in this wine | 90-92 | * |
| 1976 | vintage conditions | The year of drought. Some people thought then that it was the vintage of the century. There was no rain during the whole summer, very early harvest, vinifications were difficult. The wines are tannic and will never give the hopes they had raised at the beginning. | ||
| 1976 | Grands Echezeaux | Ripe-lush fruit taste, quite opulent, high alcohol | 90-92 | * |
| 1976 | La Tache | Hot and alcoholic with some sweet flavors. Not the best example of the 1976 La Tache which can be quite exotic and delicious (I had given 92-94 previously) | 87-90 | |
| 1978 | vintage conditions | A very bad weather during the whole spring. Flowering was bad. Nobody would have bet on the vintage. Yet from the end of August to the harvest around October 10th the sky became wonderful. Small yields, but fantastic maturation resulting in a wine of great charm, elegance and bouquet | ||
| 1978 | Richebourg | Gamy nose, very leathery and tough texture with an enormous amount of fruit. Stylistically quite different from the 1971 Richebourg but equally great | 94-96 | *** |
| 1978 | Romanee St. Vivant | Exquisitely perfumed, excellent length, complete. The elegance in the wine is the hallmark of a great Romanee St. Vivant. | 94-96 | *** |
| 1978 | Grands Echezeaux | Floral -complex-spicy nose, a tight structure, very concentrated, a long lingering finish, a perfect example of a great DRC Grands Echezeaux | 94-96 | *** |
| 1978 | La Tache | Remarkably youthful nose and structure, quite leathery and sweet, developed beautifully in the glass with a long finish. Extraordinary. | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1978 | Romanee Conti | Ethereal wine and a flawless DRC with everything in it that one can ask for -- it is exotically perfumed, amazingly well balanced, complex, multi-layered, silky, elegant with a long finish. A perfection. | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1980 | vintage conditions | A difficult year with a cold and rainy spring. Rainy July. The anti-rot treatments were very successful (they would not be in the years to come). Small yields, but beautiful grapes. Very late harvest around October 15. The wines are pleasant and balanced, much better than its reputation | ||
| 1980 | Grands Echezeaux | Very floral nose, loads of fruit, long finish | 90-92 | * |
| 1980 | La Tache | From an underrated vintage in burgundy, it is a tough and tannic wine hiding the ripe fruit underneath. It took sometime in the glass for the fruit to finally emerge. | 92-94 | ** |
| 1983 | vintage conditions | Fine weather until July when on the night of the 23rd, a very strong hailstorm hit Vosne Romanee. It lasted only three minutes, but it was long enough to do a lot of damage to the Grand crus. The yield was very small. The Domaine spent the rest of the summer trying to eliminate all the dry berries hit by hail with tweezers in order to fight the rot. We still have hope in their very long conservation | ||
| 1983 | Grands Echezeaux | Color of a much older wine, powerful attack on the palate, leathery, slightly tannic, an astringent finish | 83-87 | |
| 1985 | vintage conditions | Very catastrophic winter with frosts which damaged a lot of vines, in the whole Cote d'Or. Almost 250 hectares were ruined (the very bottom part of La Tache was hit. It was torn out and replaced the year after). Then during the whole year the weather was ideal: warm and dry with rain in the spring at the right time. The crop was particularly healthy, maturation was slow and total. One of the most seductive, deep and rich vintages. The tannins produced are especially precious and elegant. | ||
| 1985 | La Tache | A hulking wine which seems to have closed the shop (I could almost see the sign on this shop saying "gone fishin' " without giving any return date !). My notes say " will it ever develop"? | 90-92 | * |
| 1985 | Richebourg | Showing more lush fruit and sweetness than the other 1985s, though not at the same level of complexity as the 1985 Romanee Conti. | 90-92 | * |
| 1985 | Romanee St. Vivant | A typical lovely DRC perfume, a little more giving than some of the other 1985 DRC though still monolithic and tannic. A slow developer | 90-92 | * |
| 1985 | Romanee Conti | Again a typically unyielding 1985 but still shows lots of finesse and sweetness. It clearly needs time to come around. I can wait. | 92-94 | ** |
| 1985 | Grands Echezeaux | Chunky and unyielding, it is not clear when it will come around | 87-90 | |
| 1986 | vintage conditions | The year was generally rainy and the sorting at the harvest was very important because of deep attacks of rot. It was a year when the Echezaux was at an exceptionally high-level compared to the other crus of the Domaine. Why, we do not really know. After years of austerity, the wines begin to show charm: fateful 15 years of aging? | ||
| 1986 | Grands Echezeaux | Earthy, tarry, gaminess in the nose, acidity is high but there is softness and elegance, better than its reputation | 87-90 | |
| 1988 | vintage conditions | Nice spring. For the first time in many years, attacks of mildew, but the north wind during September helped produce wines that were concentrated and very tannic. The yield was high and maturation was complete. It does not seem to come up to our expectations for the moment, but one should wait. It is only 14 years old! | ||
| 1988 | La Tache | Intense nose of spices and black fruit, a leaner but muscular style wine that clearly needs time, quite elegant | 92-94 | ** |
| 1988 | Grands Echezeaux | Complex bouquet, great purity of the fruit, concentrated, great elegance, needs time | 92-94 | ** |
| 1988 | Romanee Conti | Quite closed initially but opened up gradually in the glass, superb finesse with copious amounts of fruit hidden underneath the tannic structure. Long-term wine | 94-96 | *** |
| 1989 | vintage conditions | No frost during winter. One of the warmest winters we had seen, but spring frost hit a little at the bottom part of the vineyards. The summer was very warm and dry. The harvest was very early for the period: September 20th. The sugar contents are very high. Abundance and quality met together very much like the year before. The tannins are still closed. We should wait for a few more years. | ||
| 1989 | La Tache | Round and youthful, exhibits some sweetness but seems closed now, does not show much flavor. In time it could show better. | 87-90 | |
| 1989 | Grands Echezeaux | Very round and opulent, sweet, but without the length | 87-90 | |
| 1990 | vintage conditions | No winter. No snow. Spring was early and humid. Flowering was not very good: "coulure" and "millendrage". The beginning of the summer was dry and warm. Drought in August. A very nice weather all the time after and during the harvest. The health situation of the grapes was very good. One of the most seductive vintages ever made | ||
| 1990 | Echezaux | Very deep color, spicy nose, a bit leaner than the other DRC '90s and also a bit shorter. | 90-92 | * |
| 1990 | Richebourg | Big, opulent wine with ripe fuit and sweetness. Seductive. Very good balance but a tad short in the length | 92-94 | ** |
| 1990 | Romanee St. Vivant | Plums and spices in the nose, great richness of fruit wrapped underneath a velvety elegant exterior. Excellent wine | 92-94 | ** |
| 1990 | Grands Echezeaux | The intensity of the bouquet is quite incredible, great balance of fruit and acid, still very young, it will take time to show its true potential | 94-96 | *** |
| 1990 | La Tache | A huge, intense wine. Considering the immense power and the richness of the fruit, which is kept remarkably in balance by firm and refreshing acidity, this wine can be called "larger than life". One of the great La Tache of all-time | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1990 | Romanee Conti | An amazing feat for this wine to retain that telltale elegance of Romanee Conti in the face of the massive volume of fruit typical of the 1990s. Pure velvet. An extraordinarily long finish. An extraordinary example of what balance is all about, and what the Domaine can achieve. | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1991 | vintage conditions | Winter and spring were adequate. A lot of snow reconstituted the level of the underground water. Maturation was good and sugar contents also. Like 1962, the 1991 has only one fault: to be born immediately after the 1990 !. La Tache 1991 for instance will show beautiful things in the future | ||
| 1991 | Grands Echezeaux | Earthy, chocolaty in the flavor, beautifully drinking, lovely wine. | 90-92 | * |
| 1991 | La Tache | Chocolate and earth, an unusual DRC (difficult to guess in a blind tasting) lovely flavors, very round and sweet, does not have much weight or heavy tannins, quite approachable | 92-94 | ** |
| 1993 | vintage conditions | Nice spring. Flowering began in the first days of June, which was quite early. An early vintage again. Storms during June and July with developments of mildew and odium. Keeping the fight organic was difficult. Very good maturation of the grapes in August. Rain and sun during the harvest. Difficult vintage to make, but one of the most promising years for the future. | ||
| 1993 | Grands Echezeaux | Spicy nose, remarkably elegant with leather undertones, very well-balanced, long term | 92-94 | ** |
| 1993 | La Tache | Purity of the fruit, superbly elegant and balanced, more depth and substance and more DRC character than the 91 La Tache | 94-96 | *** |
| 1993 | Romanee Conti | Typical DRC, pure pinot nose and pure fruit, great delicacy of flavors, almost ethereal and complex wine. | 96-98 | **** |
| 1995 | vintage conditions | Extreme cold and nearly frosty conditions in April resulted in a smaller crop. June was enormously humid, August had temperatures unequalled in the past few years, accelerating the maturity of the grapes. September was a roller coaster. Rains in the early part of the month were most welcome, but mid month it became worrisome as botrytis began to appear. The weather turned beautiful between the 20th and 30th when the harvest began. Richebourg, Romanee Conti, La Tache, and most of Romanee St. Vivant were harvested between Sept 30 and Oct 5 and show great qualities.But there were huge storms after that date, affecting the harvest of Echezeaux and Grands Echezeaux as the grapes became botrytis infected. Very heavy sorting and meticulous picking resulted in very low production but of perfectly healthy grapes of high quality for these two wines. | ||
| 1995 | Grands Echezeaux | Ripe cherry nose and flavor, very leathery, nice elegance, a bit short | 90-92 | * |
| 1996 | vintage conditions | April was very good but with lots of rain which, however, stopped in May that was perfect. The flowering which occurred in mid-June was short. A very dry summer followed. The rain towards the end of August did just the right job of supplying much needed water for nourishment and full maturity. With the beginning of September and throughout that month a steady north wind kept the sky clear, removed any possibility of the dreaded botrytis developing and allowed grapes to develop high sugar and high acidity but with excellent balance. The harvest began on September 25 with the Montrachet, then (at 13 degree !) La Tache and Romanee Conti, finishing it all up by October 3. One does not often gets this lucky ! | ||
| 1996 | Romanee St. Vivant | Lovely elegance, excellent balance, this wine will develop beautifully in time | 92-94 | ** |
| 1996 | Grands Echezeaux | Elegance and softness are quite predominant, seems to have a little high acid which could become a problem, but there is plenty of sweetness that goes along with it | 92-94 | ** |
| 1996 | La Tache | Purity of the fruit in the nose, loads of tannins and acidity, powerful wine which will take time to evolve. | 94-96 | *** |
| 1996 | Echezaux | Fresh cherry -- raspberry bouquet, still very youthful but perhaps the first that will be ready to drink among the slow developing 1996 DRC's | 87-90 | |
| 1997 | vintage conditions | This vintage will be remembered as the year the extremes of cold, heat, and humidity never stopped meeting. The budding was early due to an extraordinarily warm March, but in April the cold weather returned with intensity with the frosts slowing down and, in some cases even destroying the vegetation. May and June were warmer, but very rainy. The blooming which began the end of May continued for three weeks creating an irregular growth of the berries and lowering the yield of healthy grapes. The heat in August was scorching but rains arrived the 26th. They lasted, with sunny intervals, long enough, for 3 weeks, to be beneficial but not too long to cause any disaster. After that the weather was excellent helped by the Sun and the north wind. The grapes were perfect at the harvest but it was one of the smallest crops. | ||
| 1997 | Grands Echezeaux | Strong DRC perfume, quite elegant, lighter style, will develop well | 87-90 | |
| 1998 | vintage conditions | After a mild winter the budding begins in early April but a cold spell around the 15th causes spring frosts which, fortunately, does not damage the Domaine. Flowering starts early June but, because of a cold period, it spreads over several weeks. The heat arrives at the end of June accelerating the growth of the vegetation. Then a severe heat wave follows in August raising temperatures up to 43 degrees (C) which was good for ripening the grapes but also stressed the vines, particularly young vines. As the heat goes down the end of August rains appear on September 15 which causes great concern about the growth of botrytis. Then, miraculously, ideal weather returns helped by north wind and moderate temperatures. The harvest is done in ideal conditions from September 19 though the 29th. The wines are between 12.1 and 12.7 degrees, the acidities are much better than expected and the yields ar moderate. | ||
| 1998 | Grands Echezeaux | Black cherry--raspberry nose, very deep color, tannic/ acidic, needs time | 87-90 | |
| 1999 | vintage conditions | The picture seemed bleak in early spring when it rained every day. But that turned out to be a blessing as it provided an ample reserve of water which was in dire need as hot weather descended between August 15 and September 20. The result was a miraculous combination of high sugars due to grapes directly exposed to the sun acquiring a roasted character, concentrated berries with good acidity and perfectly healthy grapes---three factors that have rarely occurred in the same harvest. The rains did arrive but very late to do any damage. A severe selection of grapes was made but the quantity of wine produced was high, comparable to 1996 and 1990.The harvest started on September 20 and completed on the 27th. Words fail us when we try to describe the perfection of grapes that were passing through on our sorting tables ! | ||
| 1999 | Echezeaux | Hints of chocolate and nutmeg, well balanced with good acidity, lighter style | 92-94 | ** |
| 1999 | Grands Echezeaux | Sweet cherries and chocolate on the nose, dark, a very thick wine. Having this wine is literally like chewing on a ripe luscious fruit. Quite an incredible feat ! | 96-98 | **** |
| 1999 | La Tache | Seamless, structurally perfect with all components very vibrant and in balance, not the power of the 1990 La Tache but flawless, with an amazingly long length. The 1990 is a more opulent wine, the 1999, typical of the vintage, is more floral and elegant and quite seductive | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1999 | Richebourg | Very dark, very rich with huge ripe fruit flavors but rather monolithic and straight ahead | 92-94 | ** |
| 1999 | Romanee Conti | Elegance and seamlessness which are the hallmark of this wine are even more pronounced in this elegant, almost delicate, vintage. It was very closed up when first poured in the glass but developed slowly and remarkably, always a great sign. As it changed in the glass it was impressive to taste all the great nuances that began to emerge and the incredible long length it developed. Some people argued that 1999 is "better" than 1990, whatever that means. I don't think so. We have two totally different styles of wine reflecting two very different vintage conditions : the 1990 is more opulent in a kind of "larger than life" mode, the 1999 is more elegant and seductive, perhaps more classical. But they are both great wines. | 98-100 | ***** |
| 1999 | Romanee St. Vivant | True to its reputation, a very elegant but a leathery wine. Great charm, substance and balance. Overall a very impressive wine among the arsenal of the 1999 DRC | 94-96 | *** |
| 1999 | Vosne Romanee 1er Cru | Lighter style, softer, with a clear DRC stamp (I.e. elegant and ethereal wines) on this appellation which is more often known for big powerful wines. Quite fruity however, with lovely acidity. | 90-92 | * |