Ratings & Tasting Notes:

94 points — Vinous (Stephen Tanzer, March 2016)
Healthy dark red. An initial note of reduction dissipates to reveal sexy scents of raspberry, blueberry, smoky minerals and oriental spices. Densely packed and vibrant, with concentrated berry fruit accented by pepper and spice from the stems. Tanzer finds firm tannins that will support slow development in bottle, and notes considerably more inner-mouth tension and éclat here than in the Échezeaux alongside. He calls it an outstanding vintage for this bottling.

93 points — Burghound (Allen Meadows, January 2016)
Aromatically quite restrained, though aggressive swirling eventually coaxes out an intensely floral and strikingly perfumed nose of elegant red berries, anise, exotic tea and soft wood hints. Meadows finds it very much in character for the cru, with sleekly muscular, big-bodied flavours showing outstanding intensity across a moderately austere, backward and notably structured finish. He observes it is only slightly more persistent than the Échezeaux at this stage, but expects that to change with time, as there is clearly more underlying material here.

93 points — Wine Advocate (Neal Martin, March 2016)
Martin records the picking on the afternoon of 6 October and the following morning, at 21.5 hectolitres per hectare — a higher yield than the Échezeaux. He describes a vivid bouquet of Morello cherry, strawberry, crushed stone and a touch of wilted rose petal, beautifully defined and gaining intensity in the glass. The palate is extremely well balanced with well-judged acidity, earthy tones, a hint of autumn woodland and a subtle, attractive leafiness embroidered into the fruit. A very typical Grands Échézeaux, perhaps a little introspective next to the more outgoing Échezeaux, but with considerable length.

18.5 out of 20 — Jancis Robinson (February 2018)
Notably deeper in colour than the Échezeaux, with more violets and a headier, denser character. Floral notes and a skein of freshness run through the wine with great charm and class. Notable acidity on the finish, the tannins just about hidden, medium-weight fruit, and redcurrants poking through at the close.

Cult Wines International Notes:

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti farms its holdings from Vosne-Romanée under long-established biodynamic practice, at yields among the lowest in Burgundy. Grands Échézeaux lies in Flagey-Échezeaux, hard against the wall of the Clos de Vougeot, and the domaine is its largest owner with roughly three and a half of the climat’s nine hectares. It has always been the more serious of the two Échezeaux crus — denser, more structured and longer-lived than its larger neighbour — and it remains the clearest and most affordable route into the domaine’s house style.

2013 was among the most demanding seasons of the modern era in Burgundy. A cold spring pushed flowering back by weeks, hail struck, and picking ran deep into October — the domaine harvested its Grands Échézeaux on the afternoon of 6 October and the following morning, at 21.5 hectolitres per hectare. The cool, late profile produced wines of freshness and classical proportion rather than power, and this is a textbook example. The nose is restrained at first, then intensely floral and strikingly perfumed: Morello cherry, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, crushed stone, anise, exotic tea and wilted rose petal, with smoky minerals and stem-derived pepper. The palate is sleekly muscular and finely balanced, earthy autumn-woodland tones and an attractive leafiness woven through the fruit, its firm tannins carrying a moderately austere, structured finish.

Bottle Size:

750 mL

Storage History:

Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.

Condition:

Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.

Outstanding condition.

The individual bottle number has been deliberately masked in our photographs. Every DRC bottle carries a unique serial number, and published images of that number are routinely harvested by fraudsters — both to produce convincing counterfeits and to advertise wine which a fraudulent seller doesn’t possess. Masking this number also protects its eventual owner from similar fraud. The number is fully intact on the label and unobscured on the bottle itself. If requested, unmasked photos can be provided to the buyer after purchase and prior to shipping.