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  • Country ranking ?

    481
  • Producer ranking ?

    71
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    now to 2040
  • Food Pairing

    Slow Cooked Short Ribs

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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Wine Information

2002 Harvest / A national daily ran today as a headline : « Sumptuous harvest in Burgundy ». It is true indeed that the end of the Summer was glorious with sunny days that we no longer expected and that fulfilled the most demanding dreams of the vignerons.
Never more than this year have we felt how much a vintage in Burgundy can depend on two or three days only : if these days are rainy, there will be an explosion of botytris, complete maturity will never be reached and the harvest will be doomed to mediocrity ; but on the contrary, it they are fine, they will open the door to a great vintage.
This is what happened this year. In the calm of the ‘Indian summer', that creates a wonderful setting for the vineyards whose colours are changing to purple red and gold, it is a pleasure to the senses to walk in the village streets, to stand in front of the wineries and to smell the intoxicating fragrances revealing the richness of the great wine that is being made.
Let's have a quick look at this year's story, that was once again chaotic, and let's try to find the elements that can be considered the factors that gave rise to the vintage :
The bunch setting was very early and abundant. Spring, in general, was not very rainy, nor very sunny, but with significant temperature changes.
The flowering began with cold weather causing some coulure (flowers that had not been fertilized) and millerandage (small berries). The heat returned on June 10th and most of the flowering was completed in the space of barely three days.

From the beginning, it was clear that the early flowering vines could only produce a reduced crop because of millerandage and coulure.
The late vines whose flowering was perfect, produced bigger and tighter grapes, which formed generous and juicy bunches at the time of the harvest.
The first bore a perfectly balanced crop and this formed the heart of each appellation.
The second, that were often a little too loaded, had to be reduced by removing the excess buds and grapes, and necessitated also a selection at the time of the harvest.
Another important factor : the rainy and sunny periods, the cold and heat that took place over the year, made the skins thicker and the grapes could better resist mildew and rot.
Indeed, in late August rot developed in the vines that were loaded with grapes as it rained a lot in the southern part of Burgundy. However the rains were milder in the Côte de Nuits.
By early September, there was a difference between the old vines that remained perfectly healthy and the others, where rot could be observed in many places. The worst was to be feared : only a few more days or hours of rain would be sufficient. But luckily, early in September, the anticyclone returned and the beautiful weather, that was cool in the morning, clear and warm during the day, set in for good over Burgundy.
As a result, the sugar contents significantly increased, without provoking any drop in acidity, and we witnessed the near-miracle of a crop that was about to sink into mediocrity if rain had lasted, but instead, thanks to this new summer, totally ripened and prepared itself to give an excellent vintage.
Maturation progressed rapidly and some of the young vines were ready to be picked from September 15th. Our real harvest started on September 18th and lasted around 10 days. It was divided into two parts : the differences in maturity, load and consequently quality, that could be seen, as described above, in the vines of a same cru, led us, this year again, to pick the finest grapes only and leave aside for a second picking the grapes that were less fine or lacking in maturity. Our teams of harvesters now have a good experience of very selective harvests and once again they met this challenge with success.
The harvest proceeded in fine weather, sometimes cool, but without rain at all.

Here are the picking dates for each cru :

Echezeaux ..................... September 18th
Grands-Echezeaux ......... September 19th
Romanée-St-Vivant ....... September 20th
Romanée-Conti .............. September 21st
Richebourg .................... September 21st, 22nd
La Tâche ....................... September 22nd, 23rd
Montrachet ................... September 24th

The vinifications were rather rapid. The first devatting shows beautiful colour, the aromas are elegant and in the mouth one can already detect a lot of fruit and fine tannins. What will be the character or the level of quality of this vintage, we don't know yet, but we feel that the year will have "built" a great vintage through difficulties, risk and luck too ! What we know for sure : it is a small crop in quantity.

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Vintage 2002

2002 VINTAGE in Burgundy

A Great Year 

The trade is unanimous: the harvest was exceptional and 2002 is destined to be a great vintage for Burgundy. A dry summer, a sunny September, splendid grapes with highly concentrated sugars - everything came together to produce structured and complex wines with outstanding aromatic potential.
As early as the beginning of September, the sugar content in the grapes was often at exceptionally high levels and they had attained a degree of maturity indicative of a good balance between sugar and acidity in both the Chardonnay and the Pinot Noir, as well as in the Gamay and Aligoté. 

Well-matured grapes have produced - on the evidence of early tastings - deeply-coloured red wines with a garnet tint, and with really well-structured tannins. Depending on degree of maturity, the wines evoke sustained aromas of red and black fruits. Thanks to yield control and careful harvesting, they present a wide diversity of expression. 

The white wines are intense and heady, richly fragrant in their blend of fruit and mineral components. They are rounded, long in the mouth, balanced and harmonious. 

Both reds and whites of the 2002 vintage fully express their respective terroirs and promise fine ageing potential. 

As Hubert Camus, President of the Interprofession and himself a wine-grower at Gevrey-Chambertin, puts it: "In 2002, Burgundy's growers and négociants have every prospect of obtaining remarkable wines." 

Growing conditions during the year were characterised by low rainfall. Maturation took place in warm and sunny weather punctuated by occasional rainstorms. These weather conditions aided concentration in the grapes and kept them healthy. The harvest period enjoyed an ideal combination of sunshine and cool temperatures.

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Average Bottle Price

2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005
10 944€ +8.7% 10 067€ +6.6% 9 445€ +1.3% 9 326€ +54.3% 6 044€ +125.2% 2 684€

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

Light, Ruby red and Bright

ending

Long, Lingering and Vibrant

flavors

Raspberry, Cherry, Mineral and Floral

nose

Youthful, Complex, Fresh and Seductive

taste

High in Acidity, Warming, Medium tannin, Perfectly balanced, Medium-bodied, Fresh, Silky, Perfumed and Silky tannins

Verdict

Sophisticated and Impressive

Written Notes

2002 made me want to pull out a dozen clichés such as .the real deal,. .the same as it ever was,. .the best of the best.. The nose was unbelievably great, phenomenal, awe-inspiring and death-defying, if you will. It is really hard for a young wine to turn me on like this Romanee Conti (and Richebourg for that matter) did. What amazed me the most was how inviting and warm the fruit was in the nose. There was incredible depth of rose, plum, cassis and blackberry aromas. The wine was heavy, yet light on its feet as far as its nose was concerned. Ladies and gentlemen, the heavyweight champion of the worrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrld, Romanee Conti! (Applaud now). There were also stems, smoke, coal, forest and chocolate in the nose. The palate was rich, luscious, thick and seductively long. The wine kept getting more and more exotic, and although I assume that the wine will have to shut down in the bottle sooner or later, for the time being all I could say was .wow wow wow..
  • 98p

Like many 2002s at five years of age, this is really beginning to close up and become a good deal less expressive. Vigorous swirling however coaxes a superbly detailed if reluctant nose of dried rose petals, kirsch and plenty of spice elements. The medium weight plus flavors are taut, focused, very backward, powerful and punchy and like the nose, blessed with seriously impressive detail and layer after layer of sappy extract and incredible depth. Impeccably balanced with a certain tenderness here with tannins that are sophisticated and quite fine with the classic Romanée-Conti character of an almost spiritual sense of harmony. Though it will need a lot of time, this will become a great vintage for Romanée-Conti.

  • 97p

The 2002 Romanée-Conti Grand Cru was picked on September 21 at 25hl/ha. It is a very fine wine, if not belonging to the very highest echelon of Romanée-Conti like the 1999 or 2005. Appearance-wise, it has a little more degradation on the rim than expected. It feels uncompromising and forthright on the nose and I can just feel that stem addition, hints of bell pepper and iron filings complementing the brambly red fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky texture, perfect acidity and linearity. It is here that this Romanée-Conti comes into its own, conveying unerring symmetry and poise and extraordinary length. It is by no means a perfect wine yet it is disarmingly alluring. 5,548 bottles produced. Drink through 2055

  • 96p

Knockout nose: complex red fruits with a subtle tarry overlay, some chocolatey richness and a lovely fresh, spicy, herby element. There’s a sweetness and richness to the fruit. It’s quite profound. The palate is concentrated and taut with lovely spicy structure, generous fruit and good acidity. There’s an earthy, minerally underlay to the fruit. Very concentrated with firm structure and some richness: long and elegant, this has a great future ahead of it. Excellent 98/100

  • 98p
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Information

Origin

Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy

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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