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  • Country ranking ?

    381
  • Producer ranking ?

    55
  • Decanting time

    1h
  • When to drink

    now
  • Food Pairing

    enjoy without food

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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The Story

 “As if, in this square of earth, the gods had bequeathed us a memory of the fascinating vestige of a timeless perfection.” — Richard Olney. The wine of Prince de Conti, she is velvet, seduction and mystery. It is the most Proustian of all great wines.

 

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.

–We are the keeper of a certain philosophy of wine and, mainly, we are concerned by the perfection in details" assures Aubert de Villaine. 

 

Romanée-Conti lies on brown limestone soils 60 cm deep with a major clay component. Romanée-Saint-Vivant has similar but deeper (90 cm) soils. Higher up, La Romanée occupies a markedly sloping site (12%) and the soil texture is less clayey. La Tâche and La Grande Rue share brown limestone soils, rather shallow at the top end with deeper rendzinas lower down. The same is true for the Richebourg, depending on slope and aspect. The underlying rock is hard Premeaux limestone dating from the Jurassic (175 million years BC).

Lying between Flagey-Échezeaux (home of the ÉCHEZEAUX appellation) and Nuits-Saint-Georges, Vosne-Romanée occupies a middle position in the Côte de Nuits. The vines grow at altitudes of 250 to 310 metres and face east or, in some cases, slightly south of east. Vosne-Romanée, the central jewel in the necklace of appellations which is the burgundian côte, is not content with holding a mere four aces but boasts a total of six Grands Crus, each one famous the world over. A thousand years ago, it was the Cluniac monks of Saint-Vivant de Vergy and the Cistercians of Cîteaux who first realised the value of these very special plots of land. 
One of these vineyards takes its name from Prince Conti who lost his heart to it in 1760. Romanée-Conti is one of the wonders ofthe world and has always been a singly-held entity. Next door to it, Romanée-Saint-Vivant recalls the medieval monastery of the Hautes-Côtes which is currently undergoing restoration and which is linked to it by its own path. La Romanée, La Tâche and La Grande Rue are also singly-held entities, as is Richebourg, whose mere name is enough to fill a glass.

 

These Grands Crus frequently give good results from long laying-down. As a general rule, they shouldn't be drunk under about ten years of age but sometimes they will be aged up to 20 or 30 years. Each appellation has its own distinct personality depending on its year of production and on the stage it has reached in its development. These flamboyant red wines fully express the subtlety and complexity of the Burgundian Pinot Noir grape. Their colour is a dark ruby turning crimson with age. Their wide-ranging bouquet is divided among small red and black fruits, violet, spices and, with time, underbrush. On the palate, this wine is well-defined with a powerful body. It is delicate, sensual, frank and full.

 

In addition to their powerful structure and exceptional longevity, these great wines develop tertiary aromas of truffle, underbrush, leather and fur. It goes without saying that strong-flavoured meats will do them justice : furred or feathered game, braised, in sauce, or simply grilled. Wild-fowl (eg Peking duck) or a nice cut of roast veal will be gently enveloped by the close-packed but elegant tannins of these mighty Pinot Noir wines.

Serving temperatures : 15 to 16 °C.

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Average Bottle Price

2021 2018 2015 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005 2000 1995
17 890€ +5.9% 16 890€ -13.1% 19 433€ +5.4% 18 432€ +13.6% 16 221€ -1.3% 16 442€ +10.5% 14 877€ +175.5% 5 400€ +117.1% 2 487€ +70.9% 1 455€

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, Brick red and Bright

ending

Long, Smooth, Lingering and Alcoholic

flavors

Earthy, Coffee, Mineral, Chocolate, Perfumed and Cranberry

nose

Intense, Refined, Complex and Generous

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Warming, Low tannin, Well-structured, Good texture, Perfectly balanced, Mature, Medium-bodied, Elegant, Harmonious, Vigor, Medium-Dry and Silky tannins

Verdict

Well-rounded and Impressive

Written Notes

Last and certainly not least was a spectacular bottle of 1923 DRC Romanee Conti. It was everything one could hope for from a great, old Conti. The haunting bouquet of old, wilting roses, grilled meat, old book, Worcestershire, leather, tender cherry fruit, animal…the nose kept going and going, literally haunting the whole room. It still had tremendous concentration and noticeable acidity that was strong enough to carry the kaleidoscopic spectrum of aromas and flavors. It was well worth the extra hour Big Boy made us wait for it as he lectured the night away.
  • 98p
In gexcellent condition, a rare bottling by Van der Meulen in Belgium. Decanted for 15 minutes, held on to its best qualities in glass for 45 minutes. Belgian Van der Meulen was one of the most renowned and trustworthy wine wholesalers in the beginning of the 20th century. All the wine that was sold through them was also bottled by them. They were particularly known for their habit of choosing only the best vintages from the most notable producers. Each lot was tasted barrel by barrel, and only the best ones were chosen. The most famous wines bottled by Van der Meulen are Cheval Blanc 1947, Pétrus 1947 and Yquem 1921. The vintage 1923 was difficult at the beginning since the humidity and cold caused retarded flowering. The result was favourable with uneven fruit set guaranteeing limited yield. The favourable weather during the summer was followed by a partly rainy autumn. Luckily northern winds dried the vineyards and the harvest was accomplished by the end of September and the beginning of October, turning this into an exceptional vintage producing very complex wines. The level of this Romanée-Conti was top-notch and the colour was a very dark, beautifuly translucent red. The bouquet expressed something so magical, overwhelming with chocolate and coffee and warmth, that it would have melted any heart. Simply one of the most intoxicating aromas ever. The threshold to taste it grew almost too high to overcome. Very roasty, delicate, gentle and really multilayered and sophisticated wine. As a whole still almost perfect, but this was at its peak about 20 years ago. The aftertaste was smooth, stylishly seductive. A sensitive experience.
  • 92p
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Information

Origin

Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy

Vintage Quality

Above Average

Value For Money

Unsatisfactory

Investment potential

Below Average

Fake factory

Every second bottle is a fake

Glass time

1h

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

Montrachet

Richebourg

Romanee Saint Vivant

Vosne Romanée

Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault Blochet

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