| Region of production: | Côte d’Or |
| Winery Location: | Vosne-Romanée |
| Year Established: | 1869 |
Vineyard Holdings
29.27 ha
- Romanée-Conti Grand Cru (monopole): 1.81 ha Pinot Noir
- La Tâche Grand Cru (monopole): 6.06 ha Pinot Noir
- Richebourg Grand Cru: 3.51 ha Pinot Noir
- Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru: 5.29 ha Pinot Noir
- Grands-Echézeaux Grand Cru: 3.53 ha Pinot Noir
- Echézeaux Grand Cru: 4.67 ha Pinot Noir
- Corton Bressandes Grand Cru: 1.19 ha Pinot Noir
- Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru: 0.57 ha Pinot Noir
- Corton Renardes Grand Cru: 0.51 ha Pinot Noir
- Le Montrachet Grand Cru: 0.68 ha Chardonnay
- Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru: 0.17 ha Chardonnay
Top Wines Produced & Inaugural Vintages
- Romanée-Conti Grand Cru (monopole)
- La Tâche Grand Cru (monopole)
- Richebourg Grand Cru
- Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru
- Grands-Echézeaux Grand Cru
- Echézeaux Grand Cru
- Corton Grand Cru: blended from the three Corton lieux-dits. Inaugural vintage 2009.
- Le Montrachet Grand Cru: Inaugural vintage 1965.
- Vosne-Romanée “Cuvée Duvault-Blochet” Premier Cru: produced in certain vintages from the domaine’s small holdings in Gaudichots, Petits Monts, and Au-Dessus de Malconsorts as well as second crop from the grand crus. Inaugural vintage 1999.
Average Total Production
- 84,000 bottles
Summary
The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) is widely considered the greatest red wine domaine in Burgundy. Its modern history can be traced to the 1869 purchase of Romanée-Conti by Jacques-Marie Duvault-Blochet, a Santenay-based négociant. However, the domaine’s most famous vineyard’s history goes back much further and is laid-out well in Richard Olney’s book titled Romanée-Conti. The vineyard’s most famous proprietor was Louis-François de Bourbon, Prince de Conti, who purchased what was then-known as La Romanée in 1760. The vineyard’s production was reserved for the prince’s table for the next 30+ years until the French Revolution and the resulting confiscation of clergy and nobility lands. The prince’s surname was appended to the vineyard’s name when it was auctioned off as a biens nationaux to emphasize its famous history; the greatest vineyard in Burgundy has been known as Romanée-Conti ever since. In 1942, Duvault-Blochet’s heirs, Edmond Gaudin de Villaine and Jacques Chambon, transformed the domaine into a société civile by splitting the shares equally between their families to prevent the domaine’s fracture when Jacques Chambon wanted to sell his portion. Henri Leroy, a négociant and personal friend of de Villaine, purchased Chambon’s half of the domaine and his heirs still own it. Today, Edmond de Villaine’s son, Aubert de Villaine, and Henri Leroy’s grandson, Henri-Frédéric Roch, oversee the domaine. In 1963, the domaine first purchased vines in Montrachet, and signed a lease for Prince Florent de Merode’s Corton vines in 2008. All farming has been organic since 1986 and biodynamic since 2007. The average vine age is 40-50 years. Re-planting is done by selection massale taken from Romanée-Conti’s pre-phylloxera vines prior to their removal in 1945.
Style & Vinification Techniques
Each of the domaine’s wines are long-lived. A team of 90 pickers sorts the grapes in the vineyard before delivery to the winery where they are sorted once more prior to vinification. The domaine is usually one of the last to harvest in Montrachet, its Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed and the juice settles overnight. After racking, the wine ferments in 100% new Tronçais barrels. Currently, the domaine is experimenting with tapping barrels with reeds to create vibration and activate the lees instead of direct bâtonnage. Montrachet is usually fined and bottled in November or December following harvest. For red wines, grapes ferment as whole clusters if the fruit is clean enough and they are partially de-stemmed if the weather has been difficult. The grapes are cooled prior to fermentation, which occurs in open-top wood fermenters. Pigeagetakes place twice a day after fermentation begins, and the wine averages 17-21 days on the skins. After pressing the wines age in 98% new oak for 18-22 months before it is bottled without fining or filtering. Wines are blended and bottled six barrels at a time using a bottling tank, to eliminate bottle variation that would occur were each barrel bottled individually.
Producer Website: Romanée-Conti