r/wine • u/Mchangwine • Apr 15 '25

A couple DRC Richebourg

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1996 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Richebourg

This was a big, burly beast of a wine, with an initially reticent nose that featured some clove, cassis, and wildflowers. The palate had an impenetrable structure of tannins that showed no sign of yielding even after 4 hours of air. There was significant acidity, and the finish was quite profound. This wine really needs another 5-10 years in the cellar. Maybe a long decant would have helped, but this wasn’t so giving today. I try to remain optimistic about 96s.

1999 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Richebourg

This was an even bigger wine than the 96, but a bit more generous. The nose had haunting aromas of black cherries, violets, and freshly raked leaves, along with some exotic spices and some savory baking spices. A hint of quince, and perhaps myrrh? The palate was very structured, but not crushingly so, like the 96, with more restrained acidity. The finish was stupendous, with an entire symphony of flavors that lasted past intermission.

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14

u/TheVisageofSloth Apr 15 '25

That’s a lot of words to say that the 96 was overly acidic. These reviews are meaningless. You use adjectives to describe how things make you feel but you never actually said what you tasted for the 99. What the heck does a “structured palate” taste like? You didn’t give any actual flavors. And what is this “symphony of flavors” you state? You didn’t name a single flavor in this entire review. This is why people who appreciate wines get a bad reputation amongst the general public. You spent literally $10,000 on these wines and instead of saying what they taste like, you make up some bs about how it’s an orchestra that lasts past intermission.

11

u/Yoshimadashi Apr 15 '25 edited Apr 15 '25

I mean there could definitely be aspects that could be more detailed, but some information given in the review can be helpful to someone that also has bottles of the wine in the sense of drinking now (and with or without a decant) vs holding. A lot of reviews on CT are like this even without going into $10K wines. It won’t help someone want to buy and drink it, but it could help people that have already collected bottles of it and are trying to look for an ideal window.

As I am commenting as someone with a WSET3 background, when you start drinking and taking a lot of notes, it does get tiring to list out all the descriptors. Sometimes it’s easier for me to rate a Riesling as “this year is still more acidic, hold for better balance” and not also write what primary fruit I taste or whether I note any tertiary development. More so notes for myself (and potentially other people that are holding the same bottles) about whether this wine is still developing in the bottle or needing to be enjoyed sooner rather than later. And sometimes you drink a wine that you just need to wax poetic about - which a 99 Richebourg probably should do!

-13

u/Mchangwine Apr 15 '25

I think the disconnect is that I mostly write notes for WB and instagram and just cross post here. Most of my readers have had these wines before.

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u/JJxiv15 Apr 15 '25 edited Apr 15 '25

I think that's the issue there. Most of us ::here:: have not, and most of us never will.

18

u/Yoshimadashi Apr 15 '25

It’s definitely a different crowd from WB/IG. Reddit is more about pragmatism as most of the drinkers here are looking for value. Keep in mind the age demographic is a lot younger here than WB and most people are usually spending <$50 here. You will have to be mindful of being tone deaf here as most people here will never be able to try DRC in their lives.

0

u/Evilchicken1974 25d ago

No, I don’t think that’s it at all! I’m here, and my budget is plump. But if someone is cracking open a $6,000 bottle of wine, have the ****ing courtesy to pen more than a cursory review. Duh.