You know that when Aubert de Villaine declares that he believes their 2020 vintage will find a very special place among the great successes of recent years because of its uniqueness and originality, that you are in for a real tasting treat. Never one for exaggeration or hubris, Aubert nevertheless feels that the 2020 range of wines released in 2023 by the Domaine are really something exceptional.

With the vintage being produced in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s UK importer comments that it is therefore “quite fitting that Nature should have decided to take a very different path during the growing season of this, arguably the most beautiful of the fabulous trio -2018, 2019 and 2020. Born in a timeless world of clear skies, empty roads, smokeless factories … the 2020 vintage may almost be seen as an Ode to Joy.”

The wines share the opulence, power and density of 2018 and 2019 but their unique signature is a precision and startling freshness allied to an eery calm and authority – what Co-director Perrine Fenal called “a Zen-like quality of being undisturbed.” After tasting the full line up, I can concur that the wines are indeed incredibly charming but also pretty serious.

At harvest time, the grapes were magnificent. Small, thick skinned, intense, sweet and perfectly healthy, with a final sorting table selection only removing 1.5% of the crop. Yields were average in 2020 and vinifications were effected with 90 to 100% whole bunch clusters, without destemming, and lasted on average 18 to 21 days under the supervision of Chef de Cave Alexandre Bernier.

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Vosne Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault-Blochet 2020

Made only rarely and in exceptional years, the 1er Cru Vosne Romanée which is always reserved for on-trade restaurant clientele, is deep and dark fruited but also beautifully fragrant and perfumed showing violets, lavender, purple flowers over black plum, earthy black berry and Vosne five spice. Palate shows impressive depth and density with lovely layers of red and black berry, raspberry confit and earthy, musky spice. An impressive offering from fruit sourced mostly from La Tāche and younger vines in Grands Echezeaux.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Corton Grand Cru 2020

The 12th vintage of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Corton sourced from Clos du Roi, Bressandes and Les Renardes reveals pure and precise aromatics with a real focused perfume of musk, black cherry, small black currants and earthy wild strawberry hints. Super sleek with good mid-palate weight, there is a very fine, finessed core of dark fruit power all wonderfully balanced with a drying tannin structure. There is also some sapidity and resinous red fruit complexity on the finish but also a delightful symmetry. Elegance with power.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux Grand Cru 2020

Wonderfully sappy and dark fruited expression packed full of five spice, dusty limestone minerality and a pronounced chalky lift. Red and black fruits, raspberry, strawberry candy and red cherry all lift the palate. Compact, fresh and very precise with a hint of ripe summer berry fruit warmth on the long finish. Always an impressive and utterly delicious wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru 2020

One of the Domaine’s first vineyards to be picked, the 2020 is beautifully dark fruited and reserved with black cherry, black currant and broody spice with a sweet ripe core of savoury power and sapidity.  Cool, crisp and very precise with a harmonious but powerful palate weight, hints of rock candy, cherry and spicy sun-dried cranberry before darker earthy berry nuances emerge. Compact and focused, there is something quite special here yet again. Finesse, minerality and subtle majestic power.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St-Vivant Grand Cru 2020

A more perfumed exotic aromatics of red cherry pastille, strawberry rock candy, musk before ripe savoury raspberry fruits. The wine coats the palate with beautiful red and black berry fruits all tied together with silky soft mineral tannins and a purple rock candy intensity. Just the most subtle top notes of crystallized red berry fruits on the long, suave chalky fine-grained finish. A delightfully profound wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg Grand Cru 2020

Dark and alluring aromatics abound, layered with violet perfume, sweet mixed red and black summer berries over a delicate salted caramel kiss. Plush, broad and finely textured, this shows plenty of red cherry rock candy fruits, spicy black currant and small blueberry fruits over a chalky, sappy mineral frame. Regal, confident, but beautifully polished and rather effortlessly noble expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tāche Grand Cru Monopole 2020

Not totally dissimilar to the Richebourg aromatics but seemingly turbo charged with a few more gears. More red fruited than black initially but all underpinned by a fabulous, dusty, sappy, chalky limestone elegance. Very full and intense, showing massive sweet fruited concentration, regal power, focused depth and incredible mouth coating red and black berry fruit power. Beautifully dominant and imposing, confident and very impressive but still shows a lovely classical twist of cherry, sapidity and chalky drying structure on the long balanced finish. Another memorable La Tāche for sure!

(Wine Safari Score: 98+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti Grand Cru Monopole 2020

A dark and mysterious Romanee Conti that seemingly combines all the complexity and vintage elements of all the other vineyards all in one riveting glassful. Still quite broody, savoury, and dark fruited but with plenty of suggestions that beneath the youthful demeanour lies a fair amount of exoticism and exuberance waiting to reveal itself. Seamless oaking and deliciously broody black fruits combine with a chalky sapidity to create something extra special. Understated intensity, seamless balance and a true classy finesse and harmony on the long fresh regal finish. Simply beautiful.

(Wine Safari Score: 99/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2020

The second vintage of this new Domaine de la Romanée-Conti white is born from a very small 2.9 hectare plot leased from Bonneau du Martray lying in 2 locations, Le Charlemagne (Aloxe-Corton) and En Charlemagne (Pernand-Vergelesses). It is beautifully intense and exotic showing the warmth and ripeness of the vintage. Sweet lemon confit on warm buttered white toast, leesy oatmeal, waxy lemon rind and that seductive hint of struck match reduction seduce the senses. Riper, sweeter and more exotic than the 2019 maiden vintage but equally succulent, intense and concentrated. A wine that captures the imagination with the aromatics and then delivers in spades on the refined palate. Big money indeed, but not too many white Burgundies of this quality are produced every year.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wines are exclusively imported and distributed in the UK by Corney & Barrow fine wine merchants.