La Romanee 2004

Like the Liger-Belair version (see Issue 21), this is blessed with an absolutely stunning nose that is genuinely kaleidoscopic in its breadth and complexity featuring a touch of wood that frames black spice, earth, underbrush, hints of Asian spices, soy and hoisin. In certain important aspects, this quite resembles the Reignots, particularly the cool personality because even though the nose is amazingly expressive, the flavors sit back and wait for you to come to them. I like the refined texture here and together with the sappiness and excellent length, this makes a serious palate impression. Classic La Romanée in every respect whose only nit is the lack of great concentration. As to the 2004 vintage, Bouchard has clearly performed well above the vintage as a whole, in fact the wines are among the very best that I tasted in all of the Côte de Beaune.

Score: 92

Allen Meadows, Burghound Maturity: 2012+ 01 April 2006