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Tasted at the La Tâche vertical at The Square. I tasted the La Tâche 1991 twice within 24 hours: the first ex-domaine and the second purchased from auction in Switzerland, both with Aubert de Villaine present. The former was the best, right? Wrong. It was actually the second that clearly delivered, the ex-domaine example so brutally backward that it was more impressive than a wine to love. That was not the case with the second. The nose was unapologetically ethereal with mineral-laden black fruit with hints of cold wet limestone and peaty moorland on a gloomy winter's day. The precision is quite astonishing. The palate is perfectly balanced as it glides effortlessly across the mouth, intense rather than powerful, a gentle crescendo that fans out gracefully on the finish. I have always had faith in the 1991 La Tâche and now it is coming out of the shadow of the 1990 and proving once and for all, which wine is the greater.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 97 RP-NMThe 1991 La Tâche Grand Cru is a vintage tasted four or five times and I always prefer it to the 1990. Aubert de Villaine once remarked that it was the first vintage that he felt was fully his. I have encountered ex-domaine bottles that have been ferociously backward and require several hours of decanting. This bottle is not ex-domaine but as good as you will find. Beguiling complexity with intense mineralité on the nose, remarkable precision with that moorland scents I have noticed before. Wow. The palate is exquisitely balanced with an intensity that can knock you sideways. Crystalline in purity, the structure on the finish threatens to be too much, but I think time has mollified those tannins. Extraordinarily good but my word, you need patience. Tasted at a private dinner in Hong Kong.Vinous Media | 97 VM(Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche Grand Cru Red) I have long been an admirer of this wine as it is dazzlingly elegant and very densely fruited with knock out aromas of spice, dried rose petals, clove, anise and black pepper that are followed by somewhat austere, rich, concentrated and gorgeously persistent flavors that exude a fine minerality on the gorgeously long finish. The intensity here is really something to see and it just oozes class and refinement. It's worth pointing out that this is sufficiently close to its peak that it could be approached now with an hour's worth of air. Multiple examples and very consistent notes, in fact I've never had a substandard bottle. (Drink starting 2016)Burghound | 96 BH(La Tâche- Domaine de la Romanée-Conti) This is a brilliant vintage for La Tâche. The very, very deep bouquet soars from the glass to deliver a stunning potpourri of ripe plums, dark berries, incipient notes of beetroot, intense La Tâche soil tones, nutmeg, game, chocolate and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and pure, with nearly the same creamy mid-palate opulence of the 1989 La Tâche, but with much better focus, structure and grip. The finish is long, ripely tannic and very impressively long. I would opt for giving this wine another five years or so in the cellar to fully apogee, and then drink it with wild abandon over the ensuing twenty-five or thirty years. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would give the nod to La Tâche over Henri Jayer’s Cros Parantoux, but as stunning as the Jayer is in this vintage, the La Tâche is just a notch better. Great juice. (Drink between 2006-2025)John Gilman | 96 JGVery good color. This is fresh and succulent, with saturated cherry and currant flavors. It's bright and well balanced, but the dense tannins dominate the finish. A muscular style that requires time yet.--La Tâche non-blind vertical. Best from 2015 through 2040. 1,428 cases made.Wine Spectator | 95 WS

(Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche Grand Cru Red) The nose evidences a slight floral quality, and a fascinating mix of earth, leather, tea and spice notes plus an interesting green bark component. The slightly austere, tannic, wonderfully rich flavors are dense, in fact extremely dense with excellent depth and terrific complexity and a finish that seems to go on forever. Though there are now hints of secondary aromas, this remains very young, structured and remarkably intense. When you get the right bottle, the ’93 can be a real stunner. Note: the inconsistency of this wine continues unabated as a bottle opened at the Domaine recently was almost aggressively vegetal and awkward. In short, when it’s good it’s very good but I’ve now had too many disappointing bottles not to be wary. (Drink starting 2018)Burghound | 95 BHLight red. Beautiful nose, very youthful and pure. A vegetal note emerges with air. Packed with dense fruit and marked by a very firm structure of both acidity and dense tannins. The fruit is locked up right now in this massive, powerful La Tâche. Rather than open in the glass, this appears to close up, but have faith; this will be great.--La Tâche non-blind vertical. Best from 2010 through 2030. — BSWine Spectator | 95 WS

Fine colour. Really quite closed on the nose: even more so than the Richebourg. Lovely perfumed cassis nose. A big, backward, quite tannic wine with excellent grip. More austere than the Richbourg. But it has even more depth and intensity. Very lovely.Decanter | 100 DECThe 2009 La Tâche Grand Cru is still a decade away from the plenitude of maturity, but it’s already a head-turning wine, soaring from the glass with an extravagant bouquet of rose petal, Asian spices, grilled meats, rock salt, espresso roast, rich soil tones, plums and dark chocolate. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, ample and richly structured around fine-grained chalky tannins, with a deep and multidimensional core and succulent underlying acids, concluding with a long, fragrant finish. This is an utterly classic La Tâche that ranks among the vintage’s high points.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPThe 2009 La Tâche Grand Cru is the most ethereal of the three wines in this flight. Whole cluster influence is especially marked here. A whole range of spice, dried flower, mint and savory overtones infuse the 2009 with layers of nuance. Next to the other wines in this flight, La Tâche is ethereal and harder to fully capture with words, an attribute many, if not most, of the world’s greatest wines share.Vinous Media | 98 VM(Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche Grand Cru Red) A discreet but incredibly complex nose features notes of spicy, pure and relatively high-toned fruit that is laced with plenty of rose petal and violet hints. There is excellent energy and freshness to the lacy and stunningly precise broad-scaled flavors that build in intensity from the densely concentrated mid-palate to the explosive and mouth coating finish that seemingly goes on without end. This is a big LT with ample muscle and very firm but not aggressive structure along with superb depth of underlying material and positively mind-blowing length. But the real genius of this wine is the Zen-like harmony and poise though note that it is very tightly wound and will need many years of cellaring before it will be completely ready. In a word, magnificent. (Drink starting 2034).Burghound | 98 BHNoticeably oaky and darker than its siblings, evoking black cherry, licorice and spice. On the palate, there’s depth and concentration, with a menthol note that persists through the long finish. The mouthcoating tannins will require some time to integrate.--Non-blind 2009 DRC tasting (February 2012). Best from 2016 through 2042.Wine Spectator | 97 WS