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  • Country ranking ?

    464
  • Producer ranking ?

    68
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    now to 2030
  • Food Pairing

    LOBSTER WITH CITRUS INFUSION

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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Parker 100 points This wine continues to rank as one of the most memorable white wines I have ever tasted. The only criticism may be its heavy-weight style. The light golden color is followed by a nose that zooms from the glass, offering a phenomenal fragrance of honey, smoked nuts, lavishly rich, buttery fruit, and toasty oak. The wine's viscosity, unctuousness, and extract level are mind-boggling. It represents the essence of Chardonnay, extremely full-bodied and concentrated, yet remarkably well-balanced in spite of its massive size. Gorgeous to drink now, it should last for a decade or more.

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The Story

The Montrachet family consists of grand five Grands Crus grown in the two villages of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet. These two share the Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet appellations. Chevalier and Bienvenues belong to Puligny, Criots belongs to Chassagne. These Grands Crus are the most southerly of the Côte-d'Or, and lie between Meursault in the north and Santenay in the south. Their origins go back to the Middle Ages - the work of the Cistercian abbey of Maizières and the Lords of Chagny. The wines of Montrachet (pronounced Mon-rachay) came fully into their own in the 17th century. There is no argument : this is the finest expression of the Chardonnay grape anywhere on earth. The Grand Cru appellations date from 31 July, 1937.

 

The underlying rocks date from the Jurassic, 175 million years BC. Exposures lie to the east and the south. Altitudes: 265-290 metres (Chevalier) ; 250-270 metres (Montrachet) ; 240-250 metres (Bâtard, Bienvenues, Criots). In the " Climat " of Montrachet, the soils are thinnish and lie on hard limestone traversed by a band of reddish marl. In Chevalier, the soils are thin and stony rendzinas derived from marls and marly-limestones. In the Bâtard " climat " soils are brown limestone which are deeper and, at the foot of the slope, more clayey. 

 

The power and aromatic persistence of these lofty wines demands aristocratic and sophisticated dishes with complex textures : « pâté » made from fattened goose liver, of course, and caviar. Lobster, crawfish, and large wild prawns, with their powerful flavours and firm textures, pay well-deserved homage to the wine and match its opulence. Firm-fleshed white fish such as monkfish would be equally at home in their company. And let us not forget well-bred and well-fattened free-range poultry whose delicate flesh, with the addition of a cream-and-mushroom sauce, will be lapped up in the unctuous and noble texture of this wine. Even a simple piece of veal, fried or in sauce, would be raised to heavenly heights by the Montrachet's long and subtle acidity.

Serving temperature : 12 to 14 °C.

 


 

 

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Wine Information

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is without question the most famous estate in Burgundy and arguably the greatest, producing some of the best wines in the world. It is probably one of the most traditional wineries in France. Wines are produced in small quantities while the demand is huge. The domaine has 25 hectares of vineyards, all Grand Crus, including the jewel in the crown, the 1.8 hectare monopole of Romanée Conti.
Romanée-Conti, a vineyard of four and a half acres,was originally the property of the Abbey of St. Vivant. In 1760 Prince Conti acquired it against the competition of a famous collector of jewellery, Madame de Pompadour – the king’s minister against the king’s mistress. He withdrew it from the market and reserved it for his own dazzling social events. It was he who created the myth surrounding Romanée-Conti.
The price of this tiny, treasured vineyard was 80.000 livres, which in those days was worth a small kingdom. Reclaimed as property of the nation during the Revolution, the vineyard passed through the hands of several proprietors to an ancestor of the present owner for 14.000 gold pounds in 1868.
 

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Average Bottle Price

2015 2012 2011 2010 2005 2000 1995
4 381€ +12.4% 3 899€ +14.3% 3 411€ -20.5% 4 290€ +76.5% 2 431€ +123.6% 1 087€ +122.7% 488€

This data comes from the FINE Auction Index, a composite of average prices for wines sold at commercial auctions in 20 countries. The average prices from each year have been collected since 1990. This chart plots the index value of the average price of the wines.

Tasting note

color

Deep, Straw and Healthy

ending

Long, Round and Extensive

flavors

Vanilla, Bread and Honey

nose

Intense, Refined, Fresh and Generous

recommend

Yes

taste

Medium tannin, Concentrated, Well-structured, Complex, Full-bodied, Firm, Harmonious, Rich and Silky tannins

Verdict

Exotic and Sophisticated

Written Notes

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti makes only one white wine, the Grand Cru Montrachet from Côtes de Beaune. Le Montrachet vineyard is only 0.67 ha in size and produces around 250 cases annually. The 1986 was an excellent vintage for Montrachet. A cold winter was followed by a rainy spring. The weather improved at the beginning of June, when late flowering took place under near-ideal conditions. A hot summer with some showers. Harvest took place under ideal conditions. Fine looking bottle. Decanted for 1.5 hours. Open, perfumed bouquet with aromas of apple, citrus, fresh bread and faint vanilla. Soft, creamy honeyed texture. The wine is exceptionally rich in flavour. Very concentrated wine with great depth and complexity. The very fine acidity carries the lace-like texture into an astonishing, long finish. Drinking divinely.
  • 98p
A magnum of 1986 Domaine de la Romanee Conti was our third and final white. It was an interesting contrast, the two Perrieres versus Montrachet, almost a handicap match that would make Vince McMahon proud. In the end, the big, bad Montrachet showed why it was still the king of the hill. It kept gaining and gaining and gaining, lasting well into the evening. Its nose was very exotic at first, showing off that ’86 botrytis, along with this saucy Asian sweet plum sex appeal. There is ‘huge potential still,’ admired one of our guests. Yeast, cobwebs and hints of tropical orange were also there. The palate was round and rich, also incredibly tropical with exotic honey, guava and orange marmelade flavors. Its acidity was holding on quite well, which many ‘86s cannot still say, and while it seemed to be plateau-ing, it also seemed to be capable of being there for a while, a sentiment that would get stronger as the night went on. There was great texture in this rich, long, round, gentle giant. A tomato dish really brought out its acidity more, along with exotic tea-like flavors and cement, the type of cement in a brand new, mint apartment building. Two hours later, it was still going strong (96M).
  • 96p

This wine continues to rank as one of the most memorable white wines I have ever tasted. The only criticism may be its heavy-weight style. The light golden color is followed by a nose that zooms from the glass, offering a phenomenal fragrance of honey, smoked nuts, lavishly rich, buttery fruit, and toasty oak. The wine's viscosity, unctuousness, and extract level are mind-boggling. It represents the essence of Chardonnay, extremely full-bodied and concentrated, yet remarkably well-balanced in spite of its massive size. Gorgeous to drink now, it should last for a decade or more

  • 100p
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet 1986 is a beauty, Chardonnay in perfection. Wonderfully balanced, very lively acidity (typical of the vintage), very pure Chardonnay flavors in perfect balance with the oak. In it’s purity it reminded me of the best Chardonnay’s from Kistler, but with much more acidity and livelyness.
  • 98p
Good looking normal size bottle, in an excellent condition and has bottom neck level. Colour is straw, and looking bright, healthy and deep. On the nose it is wide, refined, fresh, generous and rich. The taste is harmonious, ripe, silky, fragrant, with silky tannins, full-bodied, with concentrated, well-structured and perfectly balanced structure. The finish is long, round, lingering, flavorful and pure. This wine is sophisticated, exotic and impressive. I paid around 3k-5k€ a bottle. Perfectly stored bottles are still very worthy and will last well for another 20-30 years and decant at least 2h before tasting. Good value for money. I do recommend.
- (Tasting note created by Tb's AI)
  • 98p
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Information

Origin

Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy

Vintage Quality

Outstanding

Value For Money

Very good

Investment potential

Excellent

Fake factory

None

Glass time

2h

Other wines from this producer

Bâtard-Montrachet

Corton-Charlemagne

Corton Grand Cru

Echézeaux

Grands Echézeaux

La Romanée-Conti Grand Cru

La Tâche

Les Gaudichots

Marc

Richebourg

Romanée Conti

Romanee Saint Vivant

Vosne Romanée

Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault Blochet

Inside Information

Wine Advocate #84
Dec 1992
Robert M. Parker, Jr. 100 Drink: 1992 - 2002 $8624
Last Tasted 6/92

This wine continues to rank as one of the most memorable white wines I have ever tasted. The only criticism may be its heavy-weight style. The light golden color is followed by a nose that zooms from the glass, offering a phenomenal fragrance of honey, smoked nuts, lavishly rich, buttery fruit, and toasty oak. The wine's viscosity, unctuousness, and extract level are mind-boggling. It represents the essence of Chardonnay, extremely full-bodied and concentrated, yet remarkably well-balanced in spite of its massive size. Gorgeous to drink now, it should last for a decade or more.
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