This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to sit with some of NY's "Elite" in the wine trade. Aubert de Villaine was on hand to discuss and sample the 2007 lineup of DRC wines. 30 people gathered in a conference room at the Carlysle Hotel, in what has become an annual tradition in these parts. As I look around, I always feel out of place. For starters, this year, I was the only male not wearing a jacket. Many are wine directors/sommeliers off to work after, so they get dressed for work before work. I gave up a suit when I left the legal world almost 10 years ago. Never looked back, although my closet is still filled with suits that get worn once per year, max.
Okay, enough background, onto the wines...
Aubert discussed the difficulties and confusion with the 2007 harvest. An abnormally hot April/May was just the beginning of a strange road that led to harvest at the beginning of September. Much of the fruit was rotted, and subsequently discarded. One thing I always enjoy about this tasting is that Aubert is a straight shooter. He may try to sugarcoat like any vigneron, but at the end of the day, you know how good the wines are before you taste them. Nevertheless, we still get to taste...
So, I went through and smelled all of the wines before tasting them. Then I tasted them through once and jotted notes. I then did a second round of tasting and the "notes" are a compilation...Just for the record, I am pro flavor!
1) 2007 Echezeaux: A slightly medicinal smell. Harsh in the mid palate. Decent finish, but not much fruit.
2) 2007 Grands Echezeaux: This is much richer. Nose shows a lot more berries. Still on the palate, a harsh taste. I think this wine has a great potential based upon the aromas, but, in the palate, it was just not there.
3) 2007 Romanee St. Vivant: A very bright color in my glass. The nose was muted. Very closed. Lots of structure in the wine. This appeared to be a favorite based on comments in the room. For me, it was one of the worst wines.
4) 2007 Richebourg: This had a very "DRC Richebourg" like aroma...earthy, mushrooms. Dense, "dark" color. I was into this nose. But the taste just did not follow. Decent wine, and maybe will get better.
5) 2007 La Tache: Very floral bouquet. Pretty wine. The most well rounded wine of the tasting. Needs time, but this clearly has the stuffing to be a great wine.
6) 2007 Romanee Conti: Initially, very muted nose. Then earthy, dirty nose. This is a very muscular, masculine wine. Very earthy, with a slight green streak, but very rich.
7) 2007 Montrachet: This wine is a baby. High acid and vastly different from what I remember in tasting 2004-2006 Montrachets. I suppose this is destined to be a classic, but I would not touch a btl for 10 years.
As a whole, this is the least impressive lineup of DRCs that I have tasted. Aubert said that the wines appear to be getting better, but he does not appear to high on these either. Nevertheless, what appears more depressing is how negatively he spoke of the 2008s, as the growing conditions were even worse in 2008 than they were in 2007. I am always honroed to get to attend these attendings. Unfortunately, I just cannot speak all that positively about these 2007s. These wines appear very young, and hopefully they will take on weight, fill out, and balance well, but I am not an expert with a crystal ball to say that that will happen.
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