Book Review -- Shadows in the Vineyard: The True Story of the Plot to Poison the World's Greatest Wine

The over-reach on this book begins with the subtitle. There never was a plot to poison the world's greatest wine. Rather, there was a plot (foiled) to extort money from Domaine Romanée Conti (DRC) by threatening to poison a portion of its Romanée-Conti vineyard. But maybe I am being too picky. Let's move on.

I have had wines like this book before and the term generally used to describe them is "did not deliver," precis for "great nose, did not deliver on the palate." This book has mesmerizing cover art and a "come hither" title for wine and crime buffs alike but falls far short in the fulfillment arena. As a matter of fact, this book leaves itself open to accusations of "false advertising" or "baiting and switching." It could have (should have?) been more appropriately titled: (i) An ode to Aubert de Villaine; or (ii) The Life and Times of Aubert de Villaine; or (iii) The History of Burgundy. But definitely not the title and subtitle under which it went to market.

The book purports to tell the story of the plot to poison the DRC Romanée-Conti vineyard (based on the intent rather than the subtitle) but there is no there there. Of the 274 pages of text directed at the reader, approximately 43 pages have anything at all to do with the story on offer. And those pages are distributed like oases in the desert across the full span of the book:

• Chapter 2: pp 21 - 34
• Chapter 9: pp 129 - 139
• Chapter 11: pp 167 - 170; 178 - 183
• Chapter 13: pp 197 - 198
• Chapter 16: pp 237 - 246; 253 - 258.

The book falls victim to the disease of trying to extend an article into a book. The author apparently wrote an article for Vanity Fair on the topic post its occurrence and then someone had the bright idea to further capitalize on the buzz by writing a book about it. But the story did not merit a book. It was too simple. A small-time crook devised a plan to extort money from DRC. DRC reported it to the police. The police set up a sting and caught the guy who had enlisted his ne'er-do-well son to assist him in tagging the vines in the vineyard. The crook hung himself in his prison cell before trial. There. That's it.

The remainder is a classic example of Lee-Daniels-The-Butler Syndrome: let's pack everything about the broader topic (in this case Burgundy) into the pages regardless of its bearing on the core story. Chapter 1 is a paen to Aubert de Villaine (He probably was too embarrassed to complete that gooey, cloying, obsequious mess); Chapter 3, a look back into the life and times of the Prince de Conti in the 1755 timeframe; Chapter 4, young Aubert and his grandfather; and so on and so on. And the presentation of this extraneous material did not even conform to some sort of organized plan. There was a lot of unceremonious jumping back and forth between periods and people and between perspectives and storytellers. There probably was some good stuff somewhere in there but I could not get over the feeling of being conned long enough to discover/enjoy it.

Two passages in the book, in the author's own words, are indictments against the concept of a book on this topic. The first was the quote that the crime was "far less nefarious than anyone had ever imagined" and the second was the statement that upon conclusion of the effort, the detectives involved in the case felt "full of emptiness." Not elation, emptiness. The same feeling that I had upon completion of this book.

I read this book. You don't have to.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

"Stump the Somm" at DRC bottle tasting (Burgundy, France)

We had been down in the DRC barrel cellars for a while so the light seemed especially bright when we re-emerged from our temporary subterranean domicile. Our struggles to adjust to the light did not in any way diminish our high. We had just completed tasting-through the 2013 lineup from barrel and were ready to go talk about it over lunch. But wait. Not yet. Bernard said something and then began walking off into the distance. Peter said that we needed to follow him as the tasting was to continue at the estate's bottle storage facility which was housed in another building a little ways away. This was a welcome, though unanticipated, development. A crowner. A topper. Found money.

We followed Bernard down a few narrow streets for about 250 yards to our eventual destination. We entered through large wooden doors and then immediately stepped down into the obligatory cellar. Except this one was populated by dark, unlabeled bottles set into alcoves, with each alcove identified by the wine contained therein and the number of bottles in the stock.

We rolled by a number of these alcoves until we arrived at a dimly lit room -- which was also the terminal point of the cellar -- furnished with a solitary table positioned centrally and adorned with two candles on stands. Bernard laid his (now) straw basket on the table and disappeared. After a short while he re-appeared with three .375 ml unlabeled bottles which he placed on the table beside the straw basket. We were going to be blind-tasting the wines contained in these bottles and providing our conclusions as to the labels and vintages. We were okay with this. We had two "Somms" in our group.

As he was pouring the first wine, Bernard mentioned that it was from a great vintage where both the quantity and quality of the harvested grapes were high. The wine showed some stemminess along with floral notes and spice. Great complexity and a lengthy finish. Youthful. This wine was revealed to be a 1999 Grand Échézeaux and I do not recall anyone hitting that on the button.

The second bottle, according to Bernard, was from an exceptional vintage. It had a reductive nose which soon gave way to a savory complexity. Ron noted ripe fruit, elegance, and power. This wine had some age on it. Revealed to be the 1990 Grand Échézeaux and my notes do not indicate anyone jumping up and down because they nailed it.

The third bottle had apple-pear notes, a rich oiliness, honey, brown butter, hazelnut, almonds, caramel and a stemminess. I thought the acid level was low. This wine turned out to be a "ringer." It was a 2007 Bâtard-Montrachet, a wine of which the estate only produces 300 bottles for family consumption. Ron felt that it was the best Bâtard that he had ever had. I know that no one got this one right.

Bernard was having such a great time that he brought a fourth bottle to the table. While pouring, he described the wine as the product of a difficult vintage. It had a watery-gold color with a broad, pale rim. On the nose, molasses, brown sugar, caramel, a nuttiness, dates, figs, and mushrooms. Ron thought it had, additionally, tangerine and orange-rind notes. Balanced on the palate. This was a unique wine for both Ron and me. Raj thought that it was a 1977 Montrachet and provided the reasons for his conclusions. It was  a 1977 Montrachet. I was doubly impressed: first by the wine and then by Raj's recall.

Now Bernard had created a monster. We kept saying things like "encore" but he did not get the message. He began trudging purposefully towards the exit. We followed grudgingly. It was over. Now we could go to lunch and talk about our great experiences.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti vintage 2013: Barrel tasting the lineup (Burgundy, France)

Wednesday morning dawned bright and chilly. This was the day for our visit to DRC and we could hardly contain our excitement. We had had dinner the previous evening with Raj Parr and he was supposed to meet us at our hotel at 9:45 am so that we could have a leisurely trip over to Vosne-Romanée for our 10:30 appointment. We were all in agreement that we did not want to be late for this one. Raj appeared during our breakfast and, after some milling around, we boarded the minivan and headed out.

The trip was uneventful and we arrived at DRC right on time. The DRC office is separated from the street by a walled, paved courtyard with ingress provided through a black wrought-iron door. The gate was locked but there was a communication device on the wall and we used that to announce ourselves. A tinny voice queried as to who we were there to see and whether we had an appointment. We provided the required information and, after a short delay, were buzzed in. We crossed the courtyard and entered the building through the main door. A woman was sitting at a desk to the right of the entrance portal and she asked us to sit and await M. de Villaine's arrival. The M. (Aubert) de Villaine, co-Managing Director and the face of DRC. This was great news to us. We were not sure if he would be there during the course of our visit but, not only was he here, he would be meeting with us.

M. de Villaine literally came down to our level from the floor above and meticulously shook the hands of every person present. He paused for some additional dialogue with Raj and then proceeded to address us as a group. He first thanked us for coming and then apologized for not being able to lead us in the tasting due to a prior commitment. He then introduced us to Bernard Noblet, the DRC Cellar Master who, he said, would be leading us in the tasting in his stead. He explained that we would be tasting the 2013 vintage out of barrels in the cellars below. After some additional dialogue he turned us over to Bernard who beckoned for us to follow him.

Ron and Aubert de Villane

We exited the building via the door we had entered and made our way to a second door which Bernard opened. Small stone steps led down into a series of small, oak-barrel-occupied rooms. While still on the outside, we had each been provided with a wine glass. Bernard was carrying a pail which contained a wine thief and his wine glass.

Our first stop was at the room containing the 2013 Échézeaux. According to Bernard, all of the wines we would be tasting would be in one stage or the other of malolactic fermentation (MLF); this particular wine was approximately 50% through. The 2013 vintage had been a difficult one he said ( a refrain we heard at every stop during our tour of the region) due to widespread rain and hailstorms which kept volumes low.

Bernard working the wine thief

As Bernard began pulling wine out of the barrels for us to taste, he shared some of the estate's winemaking philosophies and practices with us. The chart below is a high level view of DRCs winemaking steps and practices.

The estate harvests its grapes late as it pursues phenolic ripeness (Please follow this link for a recounting of the DRC vineyards and viticultural practices.) They sort assiduously and will make several passes through the vineyards in their effort to ensure that every berry is picked at optimal ripeness. In his view, wines should be drinkable at any point in their bottled life so they strive to make wines that are accessible but will still age well.

The entire lineup had been tasted by the time we exited the cellars. The wines were in varying stages of malic acid to lactic acid conversion, polymerization had not yet begun softening the tannins, and the micro-oxygenization associated with oak aging had not yet begun to make a meaningful contribution to the final organoleptic characteristics of the wine. There was some hardness to the wines and aggressive tannins in the case of the Gran Ech and Romanée-St-Vivant. Ron found the Corton approachable and in possession of cherry flavors. Bernard described the Richebourg as still awkward, "like a girl that has not gone through puberty." The La Tâche was smoother and more elegant with an element of savoriness. The Romanée-Conti, even at this early stage, manifested finesse and elegance to accompany a florality. Overall, the quality of these wines were unmistakeable and it will be interesting to see what happens to these wines in the marketplace upon release given the limited quantities and high quality.

A couple of times during the tasting, Ron and I looked at each other and smiled in disbelief. We were at DRC tasting the "drops of God" out of barrel in a vintage where production had been severely curtailed so every glass was extremely valuable; with the person (Bernard) who had been responsible for the elaboration of these wines for many a year; accompanied by one of the leading Burgundy experts (Raj); and our wives were along to share the experience. It was fascinating and educational to watch and listen to the interaction between Bernard and Raj. Bernard, while dressed as a farmer, exuded an air of confidence and suave urbanity while his wine descriptors were loaded and suggestive of an appreciation of the fairer sex. He only spoke French while his audience spoke English (with 1.5 exceptions) but he did not allow the facts on the ground to in any way limit his verbosity. Peter Thustrup, a wine dealer specializing in DRC, was along on the tasting and did a yeoman job of translating the Bernard/Raj interactions and Bernard's ruminations for us.

Ron, Jean-Charles, and Peter

After the barrel tasting, we proceeded to taste DRCs from bottle. I will cover that tasting in a subsequent post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Visit to Domaine de La Romanée-Conti (DRC): The vineyards

With a history dating back to 1232, and wines that are revered by collectors, critics, and fellow winemakers alike, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is the most esteemed of the world's wine estates.

This exalted position -- and limited production volume, customers, and selling effort required -- renders a visit to the property a hard get. Due to Ron's hard work, however, we were able to secure an invitation and visited this hallowed ground (in accompaniment with Rajat Parr) on April 30th of this year. The DRC visit actually unfolded over three days with the winery visit/tasting and a brief trip to the Vosne-Romanee vineyards on the 30th, a visit to the Grand Cru vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet on May 1, and a more extensive visit to the Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Échézeaux vineyards occurring on May 2nd. Despite the actual order of the visits, I will discuss the vineyards first and then follow up with the vinicultural environment and the tasting.

Currently DRC farms 27.8146 ha of vines distributed among the Grand Cru vineyards illustrated in the maps and pictures provided below. Of that total: 25.54 ha are owned and 2.2746 ha rented; 27.1446 are planted to Pinot Noir and 0.67 ha to Chardonnay; 16.67 ha are in Vosne-Romanée, 8.2 ha in Flagey-Échézeaux, 0.67 ha in Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet, and 2.2746 ha in Aloxe-Corton; and two vineyards (7.87 ha) are monopole.

Montrachet illustrated by the wine-colored rectangle.
Source: katabami.info.

Chevalier-Montrachet in foreground and Montrachet beyond.

Ron at Chevalier-Montrachet

DRC owns vineyards in all of the above Grand Cru properties except
La Grande Rue and La Romanée. Source: theamailife.blogspot.com

Corton showing the three climats (midpoint, right-hand side)
wherein DRC has rented land: Les Clos du Roi, Bressandes,
and Renardes.

                                                 DRC Vineyards and Production

Commune	Grand Cru Vineyard	Size (ha)/DRC Share	Soils	Average Vine Age (Years)	Production (2010 btls)
Vosne-Romanée	La Tâche	6.06/All	Brown calcareous; deeper at top	50	15,763
	Romanée Conti	1.81/All	Brown limestone soils 60 cm deep; major clay component	50	4636
	Richebourg	8.03/3.51	Brown calcareous over hard limestone	45	11,323
	Romanée-Saint-Vivant	9.3/5.29	Similar to Romanée-Conti but deeper	35	13,910
Flagey-Échezeaux	Grands Échezeaux	9.1/3.5	Marl and gravel over limestone; eastern exposure; 230 - 300 m elevation	52	10,834
	Échezeaux	38/4.7	Same as for Grands; 3 - 4% slope; 250 m elevation	32	14,935
Puligny- and Chassagne-Montrachet	Le Montrachet	8/.67	Thinner, stonier, less fertile than neighbors	70	2028
Aloxe-Corton	Corton Rented vyds in 3 climats: Le Clos du Roi Bressandes Renardes	NA/.5721 NA/1.1944 NA/.5081	Late Jurassic soils	N/A	First vintage 2009; total of 8480 bottles in 2010

The farming philosophy that rules at DRC is a "respect for the soils and its equilibrium" with the winemaker's role being restricted to translating the soils' qualities "with fidelity." The vines are farmed biodynamically (over 15 years now) and yields are kept low (20 to 30 hl/ha versus the permitted 42 hl/ha) through a combination of rigorous green harvesting and old vines. The combination of climate, soils, and viticultural practices ensures delivery of consistently high quality fruit to the cellar for the production of these magnificent wines.

My next post will cover vinification at DRC and our tasting.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme