Montrachet, Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2004

A deft touch of wood frames very ripe aromas of honeysuckle, spice, white flower, peach, pear and anise that introduce remarkably powerful and full-bodied flavors oozing with dry extract that buffers the firm acid spine on the hugely long finish. This is a flat out big wine by any standard but it's particularly massive by the standards of the 2004 vintage which generally produced leaner and more elegant wines. However here the dry extract levels are such that the finish is almost chewy yet this is as refined and pure as any recent vintage with the possible exception of the '96. This will require at least a decade to be at its best and not surprisingly, it would be advisable to give it this time as the overall impression is closed, reticent and youthfully austere at present. I very much like the '04 version but for those used to greater flamboyancy à la the 2003, it would perhaps be better to choose another vintage as this is likely to always remain a discreet wines by the standards of the Domaine's Montrachet.