2021 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche Grand Cru Monopole

DEC98 La Tâche is among the vintage’s top wines, with explosive ripe red and black fruit aromas ranging from plum and black cherry to mulberry, all accented with liquorice, clove and peppery spice, earth, leather and Havana cigar. The texture is powerfully structured, with ripe, supple tannins, fresh acidity and abundant extract, yet it’s not astringent or tight. Wait at least a decade before enjoying this, but it also has the substance to age further.

WA97+ The disparity between my score in barrel last year and from bottle this year is an illustration of the vagaries of barrel tasting, as the 2021 La Tâche Grand Cru has benefited immeasurably from a second winter of élevage. If the Saint-Vivant is the cousin of the Romanée-Conti, La Tâche this year is the big brother of the Richebourg, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries and plums mingled with Asian spices, rose petals and coniferous forest and framed by a discreet patina of new oak. Full-bodied, layered and muscular, with a broad, textural attack and an ample core of fruit that conceals a serious chassis of tannin, it’s long, resonant and intensely perfumed.