This article was originally published on Mar. 19th, 2026. It appears in the June 15-30, 2026, issue as “DRC 2023: Harnessing Nature’s Generosity.”
The 2023 growing season in Burgundy had its challenges, beginning with a generous flowering followed by localized hail (Echézeaux) and outbreaks of oidium (Montrachet), botrytis and heat waves. However, the team at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti made some significant decisions in the vineyards and cellar that resulted in a range of superb red and white wines.
DRC co-directors Perrine Fenal and Bertrand de Villaine were in New York recently to present the 2023 vintage release, hosted by longtime importer Wilson Daniels. The wines were tasted non-blind.
The wines delivered a certain amount of pleasure thanks to their bright fruit flavors and relative accessibility on this particular day. Yet there was also a brooding, intellectual side that revealed itself in the dense textures and firm tannins that will require a decade or more to resolve. This combination created a beautiful tension in the wines, a youthful tease that will gain maturity and complexity with age.
In 2023, the flowering was prolific. One of the keys to managing the vineyards was to eliminate some of the potential crop early on. Rigorous selection of plant material—as well as careful pruning and debudding—by the Domaine generally keeps yields in check. But in 2023, due to the abundance and size of the clusters, the team performed green harvests—first in June, after the flowering, and then at the end of July, to promote veraison and healthy grapes.
These decisions resulted in ripe and healthy fruit, allowing the team to select the very best quality grapes. The stems were also mature; despite a little fine-tuning in both the vineyard and on the sorting table, the cuvées included 100% whole clusters. There was slightly less new oak employed in 2023, and the wines were racked once during aging to eliminate some of the lees. The cuvées were also blended a bit earlier to preserve freshness in the wines.
2023 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Scores and Tasting Notes
The Reds
The Corton Prince Florent de Mérode ($1,155) expressed some underbrush and animal notes in the aromas, settling into a core of ripe black cherry framed with plenty of spice. Meaty and long, it ended with accents of sandalwood (95 points, non-blind).
The Vosne-Romanée Cuvée Duvault-Blochet premier cru ($623) was very classy, offering a silky texture, great energy, balance and length with flavors of black cherry, blackberry, violet and coffee (94 points, non-blind).
The Echézeaux ($1,185) delivered more weight and depth than the Vosne-Romanée. It also displayed dark fruit notes of black cherry and blackberry with an accent of earth. Its dense tannins made it firm, yet it was beautifully balanced and long (95 points, non-blind).
By contrast, the Grands-Echézeaux ($1,926) leaned more in the red fruit and floral direction. It was silky and very intense, with a bit more grain to its tannins and more complexity than its sibling (96 points, non-blind).
As it often does, the Romanée-St.-Vivant ($3,185) showed reserve, particularly in the aroma, yet with plenty of cherry, black currant, blackberry and iron flavors. It was vibrant, revealing excellent depth and a superlong finish (97 points, non-blind).
On the other hand, Richebourg ($3,175) was opulent and forthcoming, featuring spicy cherry and sandalwood notes underscored by firm tannins, if not the depth of the Romanée-St.-Vivant (96 points, non-blind).
I was impressed with the rich, lush and dense texture of La Tâche ($3,848), boasting black cherry, black currant, licorice, black pepper and spice flavors. It had plenty of muscle and tannins, remaining fresh and long on the finish (98 points, non-blind).
Though silky and ethereal, the Romanée-Conti ($11,921) doesn’t outshine La Tâche at this stage. Rather, the two bookend the Vosne-Romanée range from the Domaine stylistically—the former delivering power, the latter finesse. The Romanée-Conti exhibited rose, cherry, currant and a green, vegetal accent (in the best sense) aligned to a vibrant structure and silky texture (98 points, non-blind).
The Whites
The Corton-Charlemagne ($2,411) featured acacia, lemon and pear aromas and flavors, verging on tropical fruit before the fine cut and precision took over as this played out with a long mineral aftertaste (96 points, non-blind).
Montrachet ($6,525) started out with smoky hazelnut, lime blossom and citronella flavors and great opulence, converging on the persistent finish with mineral, pastry, toasty oak and spice elements (98 points, non-blind).
Once again, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti delivers in 2023 with reference-point wines for Burgundy.
