1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche Grand Cru

The 1999 La Tâche Grand Cru can be a perfect wine. This was very similar to the bottle opened in 2015. The bouquet sends you straight to heaven with so much purity and detail that frankly it is difficult to put into words. Fleeting glimpses of redcurrant, then pomegranate, broom and wilted rose petals, later more earthy scents, autumnal. The palate is perfectly balanced with filigree tannin, a symmetry that is utterly entrancing and precision second to none. Hints of black plum and blood orange, that mineralité returning towards a finish so tensile you risk cutting yourself. (NM)

Good dark red; not crystal-clear. Very ripe, musky, multidimensional nose combines blackberry, raspberry, violet, earth, game, black pepper and herbs, plus a positive vegetal nuance. Plush, silky and very ripe but not particularly sweet, with concentrated dark fruit, spice and pepper flavors complicated by a hint of prune. ("More fruit ripeness than the '15," noted Aubert de Villaine just moments after we had tasted the '15 La Tâche) Finishes with substantial dusty tannins and a note of licorice. Not particularly high in acidity but this extremely complex wine is still just short of its peak drinking window.

A dark, exotic beauty, the 1999 La Tâche hits the palate with scents of soy, blackberry, licorice, grilled herbs, smoke, graphite and lavender. The 1999 is a distinctly brooding, dark La Tâche that speaks with a real sense of gravitas. Just at the very early part of its drinking window, the 1999 will offer profound drinking over the next several decades.