La Tâche, Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2003

The 2003 La Tache reveals aromas of milk chocolate, violets, roses, and dark cherries. Suave, displaying massive amplitude and a full-bodied, velvety-textured character, this behemoth’s flavor profile brings to mind chocolate-covered black cherries. Immensely powerful and noble, it offers an interminable finish that is packed with flawlessly ripe, sweet tannin. Drink 2013-2030

An incredibly fine and pure aromatic profile that is first and foremost ripe but this does not detract from the usual La Tâche aromatic fireworks as the highly perfumed, seductive, spicy and pungent floral notes makes for an utterly brilliant nose that is already coming out of its youthful shell. The flavors are presently somewhat understated and while there is superb concentration, I was quite surprised that there is almost a reserve here, even a certain coolness that is extremely rare for a vintage that is essentially generous and overt in basic character. But perhaps what I admire the most here is the transparency, which is again relatively rare in this vintage, and the overall harmony of expression. In short, this is a wine of finesse and purity because even though it is dense, it remains balanced and never heavy. To be sure, this is very ripe with finishing notes of plum, mocha and coffee, it is one powerful wine that possesses huge length and it should be capable of lasting 50 years. This should ultimately be a great La Tâche though whether it can rival such vintages as the '99, '90, '64,'62, '49, '45, '37 and '34, time will tell but it might as there is a huge underlying reservoir of potential here.