2 bottles per lot
Details
LA TACHE
So often, La Tâche plays second fiddle to Romanée-Conti. It's true, La Tâche is bigger than Romanée-Conti (6.06hc versus Romanée-Conti's 1.8hc) and it produces more wine on average than all of the rest of DRC's vineyards (owing to the fact that it is a monopole, and DRC's other vineyards are shared). The vineyard's history is storied.
The original La Tâche vineyard owned by Louis-Philibert Joly de Bevy at the beginning of the revolution passed, by forced sale after the revolution, through Jacques Jacquinot to Claude-Franois Viénot, a négociant in Dijon.
At the turn of the 19th century, Viénot, to settle debts, sold his vines to Guillaume Basire which passed to General Liger Belair by marriage and remained in his family until 1933.
For most of the 19th century, a large part of Les Gaudichots, a lieu-dit adjoining La Tâche, was known in title deeds as Tâche Gaudichots or Tâche Gaudichottée. Indeed the issue remained confused until court proceedings in 1932 and the eventual establishment of the appellation controllée of La Tâche in September 1936.
The Duvault-Blochet family, the ancestors of the de Villaines who currently co-own the property, acquired parcels of Les Gaudichots throughout the 19th Century including in 1862 a large parcel from M. Morellet and in 1866 a southern portion from M. Lausseure. Each of these vineyards was also referred to as Tâche Gaudichots.
In 1932 the Liger-Belair family sought to limit the rights to the La Tâche designation to the original Joly de Bevy vineyard, but lost after an extensive tasting and an official visit to the vineyard by the judge. Thus, the Gaudichots vineyards of de Villaine and Chambon (descendants of Duvault-Blochet) were able to be designated as La Tâche.
When in the following year the Liger-Belair heirs sold by auction the original La Tâche vineyard, Edmond Gaudin de Villaine and Jacques Chambon became the sole owners of the present boundaries of La Tâche as eventually defined by the appellation laws in September 1936.
La Tâche--Vintage 1934
Côte de Nuits, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Levels: one 2.5cm from cork, one 2cm below wax; one domaine stamped cracked wax capsule, signs of old seepage, lightly bin soiled label, damp stained and loose vintage tag, Berry Bros & Rudd import sticker. One non-embossed cracked wax capsule, chipped away to reveal vineyard and vintage branded cork, Berry Bros & Rudd import sticker
"Bricking on the rim but a ruby core remains and the color is still quite vibrant. A great La Tâche always has stunning aromatics and the '34 is no exception as fully mature but utterly gorgeous aromas of opulent oriental spices, earth, leather and violets explode from the glass to reveal rich, sweet and almost completely resolved flavors that coat the mouth, all culminating in a superbly long finish of liquid velvet. The texture and mouth feel of this wine is incredibly seductive and it required considerable restraint not to drink this faster than its venerable age would warrant. With an hour of air the flavors began to lose some delineation but not their vibrancy. In short, this is a wonderful LT that still has years of life ahead of it though like most '34s at this stage, there is no further improvement to be had either." BH, Mar 13, 2010
2 bottles per lot
So often, La Tâche plays second fiddle to Romanée-Conti. It's true, La Tâche is bigger than Romanée-Conti (6.06hc versus Romanée-Conti's 1.8hc) and it produces more wine on average than all of the rest of DRC's vineyards (owing to the fact that it is a monopole, and DRC's other vineyards are shared). The vineyard's history is storied.
The original La Tâche vineyard owned by Louis-Philibert Joly de Bevy at the beginning of the revolution passed, by forced sale after the revolution, through Jacques Jacquinot to Claude-Franois Viénot, a négociant in Dijon.
At the turn of the 19th century, Viénot, to settle debts, sold his vines to Guillaume Basire which passed to General Liger Belair by marriage and remained in his family until 1933.
For most of the 19th century, a large part of Les Gaudichots, a lieu-dit adjoining La Tâche, was known in title deeds as Tâche Gaudichots or Tâche Gaudichottée. Indeed the issue remained confused until court proceedings in 1932 and the eventual establishment of the appellation controllée of La Tâche in September 1936.
The Duvault-Blochet family, the ancestors of the de Villaines who currently co-own the property, acquired parcels of Les Gaudichots throughout the 19th Century including in 1862 a large parcel from M. Morellet and in 1866 a southern portion from M. Lausseure. Each of these vineyards was also referred to as Tâche Gaudichots.
In 1932 the Liger-Belair family sought to limit the rights to the La Tâche designation to the original Joly de Bevy vineyard, but lost after an extensive tasting and an official visit to the vineyard by the judge. Thus, the Gaudichots vineyards of de Villaine and Chambon (descendants of Duvault-Blochet) were able to be designated as La Tâche.
When in the following year the Liger-Belair heirs sold by auction the original La Tâche vineyard, Edmond Gaudin de Villaine and Jacques Chambon became the sole owners of the present boundaries of La Tâche as eventually defined by the appellation laws in September 1936.
La Tâche--Vintage 1934
Côte de Nuits, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Levels: one 2.5cm from cork, one 2cm below wax; one domaine stamped cracked wax capsule, signs of old seepage, lightly bin soiled label, damp stained and loose vintage tag, Berry Bros & Rudd import sticker. One non-embossed cracked wax capsule, chipped away to reveal vineyard and vintage branded cork, Berry Bros & Rudd import sticker
"Bricking on the rim but a ruby core remains and the color is still quite vibrant. A great La Tâche always has stunning aromatics and the '34 is no exception as fully mature but utterly gorgeous aromas of opulent oriental spices, earth, leather and violets explode from the glass to reveal rich, sweet and almost completely resolved flavors that coat the mouth, all culminating in a superbly long finish of liquid velvet. The texture and mouth feel of this wine is incredibly seductive and it required considerable restraint not to drink this faster than its venerable age would warrant. With an hour of air the flavors began to lose some delineation but not their vibrancy. In short, this is a wonderful LT that still has years of life ahead of it though like most '34s at this stage, there is no further improvement to be had either." BH, Mar 13, 2010
2 bottles per lot
Provenance
The Magnificent Cellar of the Late William A.M. Burden, ZachysChristie's sale #8560, December 7, 1996, lot 484