Our expert's surprising revelations after tasting Domaine de la Romanée-Conti's 'exuberant' 2023 vintage

A recent tasting in New York provided an opportunity to taste through the 2023 wines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and to linger over some older vintages at lunch.

This annual tradition is always a pleasure, yet it is not without surprises. While there were no disappointing wines in the tasting, some shone more brilliantly than they had when tasted from barrel, while others were perhaps less lustrous.

My initial impression of the 2023 vintage was one of exuberant, lush, forward fruit. We knew (or thought we did) that it was a sunny, high-yielding vintage; we expected the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti to manage nature's generosity and deliver sumptuous yet balanced wines, which they did.

Now that the wines are in bottle, the results appear more nuanced than they seemed out of barrel.

It's not just the vineyard that needs to adapt

In her description of the vintage, co-director of the domaine Perrine Fenal emphasised the vicissitudes of the vintage, which ended on a sunny, heat-wave note but was much more varied throughout the season than many remember.

The key to success at the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is not as simple as a well-timed harvest or a strict selection, but it is seeing each wine as an individual and adapting as needed to create the finest wine possible.

This level of attention to detail meant that each wine showed a distinctive character despite the sultry weather during harvest.

As Bertrand de Villaine notes: ‘The vineyard is ready for anything [despite global warming], but the challenge is for us to adapt ourselves – the green harvest we completed during the growing season was a perfect example.’

Traditionally the domaine has preferred managing the number of bunches to green harvesting.

Picking logistics

In 2023, the first day of harvest began with Montrachet and Grands-Echézeaux, and the second finished with Grands-Echézeaux and started with Corton-Charlemagne.

This schedule represents a departure for the domaine, since historically it has picked the white grapes late.

Due to its greatly increased holdings in the Côte de Beaune, it now has a much more extensive logistical structure in this area, which allows greater focus.

After much of the Corton-Charlemagne had been picked, the teams began with the Richebourg, La Tâche and Romanée-Conti, then returned to pick the Corton-Charlemagne from the top of the slope before continuing to finish the rest of the harvest.

The work in the cellar also started and stopped – Fenal says that while most of the malolactic conversions were finished quickly, Corton and Echézeaux did not finish until the following spring.

The bottling was drawn out from January to May of 2025 according to the needs of the wine, with some spending less time in barrel and more time ‘en masse’ (racked back into tank after an initial period in barrel).

How do they taste?

Corton

The first divergence that I noted was the rustic character of the Corton. I had this impression in the autumn of 2024, but it didn’t dominate the wine as it did this spring. I thought the wine was fairly marked by the oak ageing, but Bertrand de Villaine disagreed. For him, the aroma was ‘bois de ronce' – 'brambly' or 'briary'. He went on to say that the wines from 2023 have been racked and that was not always done. ‘The lees were very rich, [but] not always very fine. This racking should have “deconcentrated” the wine, but that wasn't the case.’

Vosne-Romanée, Duvault-Blochet

The Duvault-Blochet is produced from declassified young vines from the grands crus and some premier cru holdings. It is never tasted out of barrel, since the blend is completed at the end of ageing, so it is always a surprise. I was particularly struck by the impressive structure and length, even at this early age as it outperformed the Corton that had gone before.

Echézeaux, Grands-Echézeaux, Romanée-St-Vivant, Richebourg

The Echézeaux seemed more elegantly reserved than it had been in 2024, but this finesse stood it in good stead, since it mostly displayed exuberant fruit out of barrel, but is now more substantial. The wines from Grands-Echézeaux, Romanée-St-Vivant and Richebourg remained true to their character and had changed little.

Romanée-Conti & La Tâche

Perhaps the biggest change that I noted was the ascendancy of the Romanée-Conti. It was more reserved out of barrel but now showed the exquisite depth and range of aromas and flavours for which it is known, eclipsing even the showy La Tâche.

Corton-Charlemagne

The white wines have continued to evolve. We did not taste the Corton-Charlemagne in the autumn, so to discover it here was an unalloyed pleasure.

Montrachet

In November, the Montrachet seemed very rich, a luxurious indulgence, almost bordering on heavy. After bottling, it seemed more balanced and lively. There was a lemony edge to the wine, making it, if anything, even more ravishing than it had been. Both whites were vibrant and deep, with an unexpected freshness, particularly for this vintage.

Beware easy answers

The facile take on 2023 is that it was a sunny vintage with high yields, high bunch weight, and big grapes, conditions that can be a recipe for early-drinking, somewhat dilute wines.

This tasting showed, however, that it was possible to avoid these pitfalls and craft age-worthy wines that will go the distance.

The combination of green harvesting, careful picking dates, severe selection, and wisdom and restraint in the cellar has delivered wines that will last for decades to come.

DRC 2023 in bottle: Tasted and rated

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