Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2017: eight wines revisited

2017 marks the last vintage of wines made by Bernard Noblet at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, with Noblet retiring in 2018 after 40 years of service. He took the place of his father, André Noblet, who made the wines from 1946 through 1978.

He was replaced by Alexandre Bernier, who worked alongside Noblet for eight years before assuming the post.

Although the departure of the widely-loved Noblet was inevitably emotionally charged, in wine terms the moment was perhaps less of a change than the confirmation of gradual evolution – even Domaine de la Romanée-Conti must evolve over time.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for eight Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2017 wines

Longtime director Aubert de Villaine is also gradually ceding control to his nephew Bertrand de Villaine, who is now co-director with Perrine Fenal, daughter of Lalou Bize-Leroy.

His retirement was officially announced earlier this year, although he continues to make appearances on behalf of the domaine. Since he is among the most widely respected figures in the world of wine, it was a delight to listen to his thoughts about the 2017 vintage.

The setting

There are many ways to taste the wines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, all of them good.

Among my favourite opportunities to taste them is during the masterclass presented at the 1243 Bourgogne Society that has become a tradition of the annual music festival, Musique et Vin au Clos de Vougeot, of which Aubert de Villaine is president.

The 1243 Bourgogne Society is housed in the venerable Couvent des Cordeliers, a convent whose buildings were begun in the 13th century, and each year Aubert has presented a horizontal tasting from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.

After a COVID-mandated hiatus in 2020 and 2021, the tradition resumed this year with a horizontal of the 2017 vintage, a delightful and enlightening occasion.

Tale of the vintage

The wines have had some extra time in bottle to open up and, in general, have lost the somewhat ‘strict’ character that they possessed just after bottling.

Aubert has said on several occasions that ‘there are no bad vintages of Romanée-Conti’, and no one is in a better position than he is to be confident of this.

Indeed, few would count 2017 as a bad vintage. The Burgundians were pleased because there was a good volume of ripe, well-balanced grapes and the wines were well received.

The year began with an icy winter, driving the sap deep into the vines’ roots. March was dry and almost summery, which spurred the vines to an early budbreak.

Frost threatened on the same day as it had struck in 2016 (28 April), but disaster was averted because of the dry weather and quick action of growers who burned hay in the vineyards to create a protective layer of smoke over the vines.

The weather during flowering was perfect and a large crop was set on the vines. June was hot, which caused some sunburn and also caused the skins to thicken, protecting the grapes from the rain that would fall in late June and in July.

Ripening continued apace and harvest for the domaine began on 4 September in Corton. La Tâche was picked on 6–7 September; Montrachet was also picked on 7 September.

Romanée-Conti was picked on the morning of the 8th, and they started on the Richebourg in the afternoon. Picking was interrupted by rain on the 9th, meaning the remaining grapes were picked the following week, ending with Echézeaux on 15 September.

According to Aubert, the chief challenge of the 2017 vintage was keeping yields in check. The vines produced a copious number of bunches and the year’s conditions favoured rapid vegetative growth – only by maintaining modest yields would the vines be able to ripen the abundant quantity of grapes to perfection.

De Villaine notes that two factors help limit yields and ensure top quality. The first is the average age of the vines which is maintained at 50 years across all vineyards, although some sections are twice as old as that.

The second factor is the type of vines that have been planted. The domaine uses low-yielding massale selections from the ungrafted Romanée-Conti vines that existed until 1945.

The verdict

The style of these wines was on exquisite display. In any vintage, the wines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti are bound to be among the very finest examples. In a year such as 2017, they serve as an eloquent refutation of the received wisdom about the vintage.

Some observers have said that 2017 lacks the concentration of the two vintages that preceded it, but these wines substitute exuberance for concentration – the more ‘concentrated’ vintages can often be more reticent and take longer to show their full potential.

While these 2017s may not be the longest-lived wines produced by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, they are among the most hedonistic and are starting to show their potential even now. Each of the wines was a fine example of its terroir. Underestimate them at your peril.

As is the custom at this tasting, a few older vintages and rarities were poured with lunch.

The meal began with perhaps the rarest aperitif ever in the form of the domaine’s 2014 Bâtard-Montrachet (302 bottles produced) and continued with the 2004 Richebourg and the 2007 La Tache, both of which provided an interesting perspective on the 2017 vintage.

Although Aubert remarked on the ‘continuity’ between the 2004 and 2017 vintages, it is certain that the younger vintage will offer more enjoyment in its youth and more potential for ageing.

See Charles Curtis MW’s tasting notes and scores for eight Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2017 wines

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