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The third in the trio ended a long-running saga that stretches back to the early days of my career. I have encountered the 1971 La Tâche Grand Cru on four occasions, and the bottle has either been corked or out of sorts each time. This reached its zenith at a vertical tasting/dinner where Aubert de Villaine joked that I would finally taste a sound bottle… He was as crestfallen as me when it was found slightly corked. The only quibble about this bottle was that the label had a tiny tear where the vintage was printed. Showing commensurate maturity in colour for a 51-year-old red Burgundy, the nose unfurls with melted red fruit, dry tobacco leaf, morels and freshly-tilled loam. With perfect delineation and focus, it is spellbinding in terms of its untrammeled Pinoté. The palate is perfectly balanced with red fruit, orange peel and a hint of spice on the finish. It is (again) that transparency, that paradoxical combination of intensity and weightlessness that leaves you lost for words. Ethereal.
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Robert Parker
Robert Parker
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Another of the many highlights of night, the 1971 La Tâche is sensational. Vivid, alive and totally electric in the glass, the 1971 dazzles from start to finish with seemingly endless layers of sweet fruit and captivating aromatics. This is an especially moving bottle. The only better bottles I have had have been large formats.
1971 La Tâche, served from jéroboam. Nineteen seventy-one is Aubert de Villaine’s wedding year. As it turns out, the domaine bottled a large number of big bottles to celebrate, which is one of the reasons a few jeroboams remain. On this night, the 1971 La Tâche is simply mesmerizing. Haunting in its bouquet and silky on the palate, the 1971 is entrancing from the moment I first taste it. A wine from a tiny crop, the 1971 La Tâche is incredibly deep and expressive, yet also miraculously weightless. Orange peel, cinnamon, lavender and dried rose petals are some of the many nuances that unfold into the hauntingly beautiful finish.
About the producer
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or simply “DRC” is without doubt the most famous domaine in Burgundy and one of the most famous producers on earth. The Grand Cru vineyard from which it takes its name produces the world’s most expensive wine by a long margin.