2021 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg Grand Cru

Co-director Bertrand de Villaine noted that production was down here because they have pulled out 80 ares by the road (in Les Verroilles) because they found Richebourg to be more elegant without the fruit from those vines. They are going to replant that parcel in Les Verroilles to improve the quality of the plant material, using, for example, rootstocks  3309 and 420A but the replanting is currently delayed by rain . Vines are 60 years old, harvested 29 September and 1 October, yield 11.8 ha/ha. Total production 355 cases of 12. Bottled 13 January 2023. Light to mid ruby. The sweet red-fruited perfume of the Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Cuvée Duvault-Blochet is here but also the irresistible perfume of peony and the fragrance (but not the sweetness) of mulberry. Leafy notes from the stems become more evident with time in the glass. The tannins, super-fine, are a little drier here than on the Romanée-St-Vivant, not chalky but heading in that direction. Lingering, delicate, with a light stemmy flavour and grip on the finish. (JH)

The 2021 Richebourg Grand Cru was cropped at just 11.8hL/ha on September 29 and October 1, bottled on January 13, a day after the Romanée-Saint-Vivant. It has a more arresting bouquet, by comparison, much more tertiary, perhaps the stem addition requiring more time to be fully assimilated. Darker fruit than the Romanée-Saint-Vivant, hints of pencil shavings and Earl Grey filtering through with aeration, engendering more mercurial aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins, a gentle grip, a silver bead of acidity and quite a peppery finish. It's not as weighty or as multi-dimensional as other vintages. I want to wait and see whether this Richebourg loses its nascent grumpiness. At the moment, I much prefer the Romanée-Saint-Vivant. 355 cases produced