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Very rich and complete' - Romanee Conti 1971 could bring £75,000 at Christie's
Today, June 10, Christie's is holding a sale of Finest and Rarest Wines. The auction house notes that an exceptional collection of rare Burgundy provides many of the best lots in the sale.
Amongst the 787 lots, there are a number of wines to excite any wine lover, collector or investor. For a start, there are two twelve bottle lots of Château Pétrus 1982 on offer, each expected to sell for £35,000-45,000.
The two most intriguing lots, however, are Hermitage La Chapelle 1961 and Romanée-Conti 1971.
La Chapelle 1961 is treated in some quarters with almost religious reverence. One of its greatest fans is wine critic Robert Parker who did the unthinkable and awarded it the full three digits on his 100-point scale, commenting:
"This is unquestionably one of the greatest wines made in the twentieth century. [...] The opaque purple/garnet colour is accompanied by spectacular aromatics representing the essence of old vine Syrah (smoked meat, pepper, hoisin sauce, and soy).
"As the wine sits in the glass, notions of pepper, new saddle leather, grilled meat, and awesome levels of blackberry, plum, and blackcurrant liqueur-like notes emerge. Extremely unctuous, with compelling concentration and purity, this full-bodied, seamless, mouthfilling 1961 is truly immortal.
"It still possesses a freshness and vigour that defy its nearly forty years of age. It should continue to drink well for two more decades. Prodigious stuff!"
The £45,000-60,000 guide price for the 12 bottle lot seems quite reasonable given this reputation, despite one slightly depressed cork and slightly varied wine-levels.
The top lot, however, is expected to be a six magnum lot of Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 1971. The exceptionally rare vintage was not considered a standout wine compared to the previous two years, but has developed better.
Respected critic Michael Broadbent MW commented on this in the Pocket Vintage Wine Companion:
"...though it has had the reputation of being somewhat hard, unyielding and 'untypical' it is these very factors which have so effectively developed the best over the past 35 years." Elsewhere, he described the tasting,
"Medium-deep, warm, soft, open; more restrained than the '78 but very good, with a true classic Pinot character opening fragrantly; very sweet, very rich and complete - all the components fully represented and in place, extract masking tannin. Outstanding."
The lot is expected to bring £50,000-70,000 in London later today.
Wine Description
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.
Wine Information
Not only the most iconic domaine in Burgundy, but also possibly in France and even in the world. With a monopoly of the two greatest vineyards - Romanée-Conti and La Tâche - and with a generous handful of some others within Vosne-Romanée and beyond, it secured its revered position all while being completely discreet and even modest. It is co-owned by the Villaine and Leroy-Roch families, with Aubert de Villaine guiding the ship since 1974. But it can trace its roots back to the 13th century, when its first vines were planted by the monks of Saint-Vivant. They have been organic since the 1980s and biodynamic since the 1990s. They are also undoubtedly the most famous domaine in the region that uses (and has always used) whole cluster fermentation, an established technique that was eschewed by Henri Jayer, but has inspired many others in recent years. Allen Meadows, arguably the most knowledgeable Burgundy expert and critic in the world, has only given one wine a perfect score - the 1945 Romanée-Conti.
Recommended glass shape
Average Bottle Price
2017 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2005 | 2000 | 1995 | 1565 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 909€ +33.9% | 11 879€ +25.9% | 9 432€ +2.2% | 9 225€ +2.4% | 9 008€ -3.4% | 9 327€ +21.3% | 7 690€ +93.2% | 3 980€ +50.5% | 2 644€ +186.8% | 922€ -54.3% | 2 019€ |