AN APPRECIATION OF LEE KRAMER'S TASTE IN BURGUNDY
It is exceptionally rare to come across so many historic, great old Burgundy vintages, from such a broad range of famous Domaines and Négociants-Eleveurs.
There are superb examples from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Comte Georges de Vogüé, Armand Rousseau, Drouhin-Laroze, Clos de Tart, Louis Jadot, Faiveley, Clair-Daü, Ponsot, Mongeard-Mugneret and Gaston Grivot (the precursor of Domaine Jean Grivot), and these iconic estates need no introduction. Nor, surely, does Domaine Marey-Monge, whose magnificent Romanée-Saint-Vivant was being grown and tended by DRC in 1969. Today, of course, these vineyards are an integral part of the great DRC estate.
Other names may be less familiar. Bouchard Aîné & Fils was a fully independent, family-owned firm, in the early 1960s. It regularly purchased its Chambertin Clos de Bèze from the Domaine Dr. Marion, one of the finest estates in Chambertin at the time, and I believe this 1961 will have come from the Dr. Marion vineyards.
Paul Bouchard is a separate company - then, as now, part of the Bichot family wine firm, based in Beaune. The Bichots were already leading Burgundy exporters in the early 1960s, known for powerfully-built wines which could withstand the rigours of travel. Their Chambertin 1961 and Grands Echézeaux 1961 are likely to have held up well, given the superb storage conditions of this cellar.
Bouchard Père & Fils completes the trio of Bouchard bottlings. They have one of the greatest estates in Burgundy, and the Chevalier-Montrachet is consistently one of their flagship offerings.
Pierre Ponelle was mainly know as a Négociant Eleveur, but they also had tiny vineyard holdings, particularly on the Côte de Nuits, Bonnes Mares being one of them. Rather like Bichot, they were well known in export markets.
Lionel Bruck was a real person, whom I remember meeting at his desk in Nuits-Saint-Georges, from which he ran a Négociant firm called Hasenklever, which shipped a lot to northern Europe. He also bottled certain cuvées under his own label, so these bottles of 1961 Bonnes Mares will be intriguing curiosities, possibly magnificent.
L'Héritier Guyot was the sole owner of the Clos Blanc de Vougeot, making white wine just outside the walls of the historic Clos. They also owned a sizeable chunk of top Clos Vougeot vineyard, and this bottling of 1966 will almost certainly have come solely from that superbly placed vineyard.
Last but not least in this splendid selection of famous names from Burgundy's mid-20th-Century past is Maison Lupé-Cholet, of Nuits-Saint-Georges. The firm at the time was owned and run by two formidable sisters. One was broad in the beam and down to earth, with a deep voice; this was Countess Inhs. The other was slim, elegant and very distinguished - Countess Liane (known as Lilly, though I would not have dared to address her as such). Their prize possession was the First Growth Nuits-Saint-Georges called Château Gris, on a steep, rocky terrace above the town, of which two cases of the 1979 are in this sale. They specialised in wines from the Cote de Nuits, so these several offerings should be delicious.
Anthony Hanson, MW
Romanée-Conti--Vintage 1966
1 dozen bottles per lot
Details
DOMAINE DE LA ROMANÉE-CONTI
'Romanée-Conti,' as the local proverb goes, 'is the central pearl of the Burgundian necklace.' This miniuscule vineyard gives its name to the most famous Domaine in the world, commonly referred to as 'D.R.C.' or, more reverentially, as The Domaine. This pearl, this small jewel, just under 5 acres, was coveted by a famous collector of jewelry, Madame de Pompadour, but she was out bid by the Prince de Conti, hence the name. The King's minister won against the King's mistress! In 1868 the vineyard passed to the de Villaine family and is still, today, managed by Aubert de Villaine. It never fails to astonish me that the strips of vines which strech only a modest number of meters up the very gentle slopes from the outskirts of an equally modest, indeed remarkably rural rambling of village Vosne, are capable of producing wines of such world class quality. The strips of vines cultivated by the Domaine include La Tâche (nearly 15 acres), also a monopol or wholly owned vineyard, 13 acres of Romanée-Saint-Vivant--most elegant wine and, I think, fractionally underrated and over 8 acres of the more substantial Richebourg. Then, strictly speaking not in Vosne-Romanée but over the wall, literally uphill from Clos Vougeot, are 8 acres of the superb Grands-Echézeaux and just over 11 of Echézeaux.
One thing strikes me forcibly: these five sites prove unquestionably that the French notion of terroir is not a fancy figment of Gallic imagination for the differences between each of the wines is marked, so consistent. Yet all five of the D.R.C. burgundies are made, traditionally, in the same cellars from grapes of the same variety, Pinot Noir. Romanée-Conti itself has an unique concentration, La Tâche has a different sort of intensity, each having a superb yet vividly contrasting bouquet. Richebourg, next door, has a broader character, and so on. So what produces those differences: slight variations in subsoil, slope and drainage, fractionally, virtually imperceptible microclimate. Who knows. But fermented and élévé identically, the final wines are different. The Price? Well, of course, there is no getting away from the bare facts: the production is so small and the world demand so high that even opening prices make one wince. But this is nothing new. The finest wines have always been the perogative of the seriously rich or fortunately privileged, from fat Prelates to their Royal Masters. Another thing I have discovered. They keep so well. The 1937 Romanée-Conti is still magnificent, the 1945 La Tâche has an almost pristine depth of colour and fragrance. The wine opens up in the mouth fanning out like a peacock's tail. Even curious vintages like 1951 and 1954 can be surprisingly good. And do they change! Sometimes unconvincingly when young, they take on colour and depth. They are not wines for an instant sniff; they open up in the glass.
Michael Broadbent, MW
Romanée-Conti--Vintage 1966
Côte de Nuits, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Levels: nine 3cm, one 4cm, one 4.5cm and one 5cm
Two different importers
1 dozen bottles per lot
'Romanée-Conti,' as the local proverb goes, 'is the central pearl of the Burgundian necklace.' This miniuscule vineyard gives its name to the most famous Domaine in the world, commonly referred to as 'D.R.C.' or, more reverentially, as The Domaine. This pearl, this small jewel, just under 5 acres, was coveted by a famous collector of jewelry, Madame de Pompadour, but she was out bid by the Prince de Conti, hence the name. The King's minister won against the King's mistress! In 1868 the vineyard passed to the de Villaine family and is still, today, managed by Aubert de Villaine. It never fails to astonish me that the strips of vines which strech only a modest number of meters up the very gentle slopes from the outskirts of an equally modest, indeed remarkably rural rambling of village Vosne, are capable of producing wines of such world class quality. The strips of vines cultivated by the Domaine include La Tâche (nearly 15 acres), also a monopol or wholly owned vineyard, 13 acres of Romanée-Saint-Vivant--most elegant wine and, I think, fractionally underrated and over 8 acres of the more substantial Richebourg. Then, strictly speaking not in Vosne-Romanée but over the wall, literally uphill from Clos Vougeot, are 8 acres of the superb Grands-Echézeaux and just over 11 of Echézeaux.
One thing strikes me forcibly: these five sites prove unquestionably that the French notion of terroir is not a fancy figment of Gallic imagination for the differences between each of the wines is marked, so consistent. Yet all five of the D.R.C. burgundies are made, traditionally, in the same cellars from grapes of the same variety, Pinot Noir. Romanée-Conti itself has an unique concentration, La Tâche has a different sort of intensity, each having a superb yet vividly contrasting bouquet. Richebourg, next door, has a broader character, and so on. So what produces those differences: slight variations in subsoil, slope and drainage, fractionally, virtually imperceptible microclimate. Who knows. But fermented and élévé identically, the final wines are different. The Price? Well, of course, there is no getting away from the bare facts: the production is so small and the world demand so high that even opening prices make one wince. But this is nothing new. The finest wines have always been the perogative of the seriously rich or fortunately privileged, from fat Prelates to their Royal Masters. Another thing I have discovered. They keep so well. The 1937 Romanée-Conti is still magnificent, the 1945 La Tâche has an almost pristine depth of colour and fragrance. The wine opens up in the mouth fanning out like a peacock's tail. Even curious vintages like 1951 and 1954 can be surprisingly good. And do they change! Sometimes unconvincingly when young, they take on colour and depth. They are not wines for an instant sniff; they open up in the glass.
Michael Broadbent, MW
Romanée-Conti--Vintage 1966
Côte de Nuits, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Levels: nine 3cm, one 4cm, one 4.5cm and one 5cm
Two different importers
1 dozen bottles per lot