The frosts of 2021 meant DRC lost half of their Vosne Romanee crop and 90% of their Chardonnay. Overall 2021 saw DRC’s lowest volumes in over 50 years!
The wines themselves “turned out brilliantly” according to William Kelley, possessing “striking perfume and sensuality. Sadly, there just isn't very much of them to go around” – and therein lies the problem: Great wines in tiny quantities, DRC’s newest releases are going to be even harder than normal to acquire!
He goes on to say that “In style, they evoke the classics of yesteryear… these 2021s are already so suave and structurally polished that it's hard to resist them today”.
Perrine Fenal has said “Stylistically, they remind us of vintages that we saw in the 1970s and 1980s, which is to say those that produced wines that are less powerful but more delicate and elegant than what the opulent and exceptionally rich wines the more recent vintages have produced. One vintage that might be a particularly good parallel to 2021 is 1991 and if that's ultimately the case, we would be thrilled."
2021 Assortment (1RC, 1LT, 1R, 2RSV, 1GE, 2E), Domaine de la Romanee Conti
(8 x 75cl) at £ 35,000
Two cases available
In Bond and OWC European rear labelsAvailable next month ex LCB Eton Park
“The 2021 vintage has turned out brilliantly at the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, delivering wines of striking perfume and sensuality. Sadly, there just isn't very much of them to go around. The April frosts destroyed around half the crop in Vosne-Romanée and even more in the Côte de Beaune, indeed, fully 90% in Chardonnay. Harvest began on September 23, lasting until October 2, with Echézéaux and Corton-Charlemagne the last to be brought in. In the winery, Alex Bernier and his team retained all the bunches intact without destemming after sorting, and the wines matured in new barrels until bottling between December and May of 2023. The late harvest brought full physiological maturity without high alcoholic degrees, and the low yields express themselves in mid-palate unctuosity rather than any of the stigmata that can sometimes distinguish frost vintages, especially in Chardonnay. In style, they evoke the classics of yesteryear, but the evocation is surely a little deceptive, as these 2021s are already so suave and structurally polished that it's hard to resist them today—so if this is classicism, in other words, it's a decidedly contemporary classicism. Above all, these are wines that beg the question, how do we define a great vintage? Is it when wines impress or when they seduce? The Domaine de la Romanée-Contis would certainly pass the latter test.”
William Kelley, Wine Advocate