Notes on a Grand Cru
Often during one of our holiday weekend Open House events, I’ll open up a nice Grand Cru for our team to enjoy at the end of the day, and to share with friends and customers over the course of the afternoon. This Thanksgiving weekend we cracked a 2004 Romanée-St. Vivant from J-J Confuron. To say the wine was stunning would be a major understatement.
Funky, earthy, animale aromas just jumped right out of the glass – a combination of savory, gamey scents and ripe fruits swirling together – it was truly an intoxicating nose. It was on the palate, however, that this wine went to another level alltogether. The texture was so seamlessly elegant, silky, refined and pure – it was absolutely everything I want texturally in a great Burgundy – nearly weightless in the mouth, but imbued with intensity of flavor and and endless finish. Not bad for a very young wine from an “unheralded” vintage!
One of the reasons I love the Confuron wines so much is their sheer refinement and finesse. They are smashing examples of “power without weight”, delivering more flavor intensity than their heavier-bodied and more heavily-extracted neighbors. Couple that with one of the most elegant of all Grand Crus, Romanée-St. Vivant, and you’ve got the combination for one of the wines of the vintage year after year. (I’m of the mind that only Romanée-Conti itself surpasses RSV in elegance. La Tâche is showy and dazzling, Richebourg richer and more powerful, but RSV dances the dance of angels.)
I’m hoping that Alain & Sophie can join us in Oregon for IPNC next summer – I should have an answer from them over the winter – I’ll let you know when we’ve got confirmation one way or the other. In the meantime you can check out their excellent site here.
And here they are in front of the winery in Premeaux, on a sunny November morning…
