Domaine de la Romanée Conti

The Domaine de la Romanée Conti, commonly known as DRC, is located in the Burgundian village of Vosne-Romanée in the Côte d'Or. It is the best known wine producer and the most sought after by amateurs. Its wines are classified as Grand Cru de Bourgogne.

>> Read our article on the Domaine de la Romanée Conti

The history of the Domaine de la Romanée Conti

The history of the Domaine de la Romanée Conti is rich and long. It all started in 1131 when Hugues II, Duke of Burgundy, ceded his lands, including the future Romanée Conti vineyard to the Saint-Vivant priory.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the monks discovered a parcel of better quality than the others, the “Cloux des cinq journals”, a future part of Romanée Conti, and sold it to Claude Cousin.

The owners of the plot followed one another for decades until it was bought by Philippe de Croonembourg who renamed it "La Romanée" then by Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti in 1760. The vine was sold at auction at the end of the 18th century. century under the name of Romanée-Conty.

From resale to resale, it was finally bought in 1912 by Edmond Gaudin de Villaine and Jacques Chambon who registered the "Domaine de la Romanée Conti" brand and defined the quality charter of the estate before acquiring La Tâche in 1933. On July 31, 1942, the constituted the civil society of the Domaine de la Romanée Conti and Henri Leroy bought the shares of J. Chambon.

The property has been co-managed since 1942 by the Gaudin De Villaine and Leroy families. Marcelle (Lalou) Bize-Leroy, one of the greatest winegrowers in Burgundy, co-managed the estate from 1974 to 1991. Her daughter Perrine Fenal inherited the management of the estate in 2019 joined two years later by Bertrand de Villaine, nephew of 'Aubert de Villaine.

What are the wines of the Domaine de la Romanée Conti?

The mythical Domaine de la Romanée Conti covers nearly 31 hectares of pinot noir & chardonnay vines and owns nine grands crus, two of which are monopolies. It produces prestigious wines known for their exceptional quality and high price.

From North to south :

The Reds

Echézeaux: 4.67 hectares – The earliest vintage, the least complex and of great elegance.

Grand Echézeaux: 3.52 hectares – Refined, expressive wine with notes of undergrowth.

Richebourg: 3.51 hectares – Powerful wine with a firm and silky character.

Romanée-Conti (monopoly): 1.81 hectares – Wine all in velvet, with floral aromas

Romanée-Saint-Vivant: 5.28 hectares - Lightness, delicacy and power are the balance of this wine.

La Tâche (monopole): 6.06 hectares – Elegant, ample wine with firm tannins.

Corton (Clos du Roi, Bressandes, Renardes climates): 2.27 hectares – First harvest in 2009, it is a frank and firm wine from old vines.

The Whites

Corton-Charlemagne: 2.91 hectares – First harvest in 2019. Wine of great finesse and freshness.

Montrachet: 0.67 hectares – Its elegance and power make it a white wine of unparalleled complexity.

Biodynamics and the Domaine de la Romanée Conti

Respect for biodiversity and quality requirements are the watchwords of the Domaine de la Romanée Conti. The estate has been certified organic since 1986 and Biodyvin since 2017 even if the vineyard has been managed according to the principles of biodynamics for much longer.

For the owners, this method as well as a meticulous selection in the vineyard and in the cellar allows to obtain the best wine, of a very high quality and endowed with a high aging potential.

Is Romanée Conti the most expensive wine in the world?

The most famous and coveted of the crus comes from the eponymous vineyard of Romanée-Conti. It comes from a very small plot of less than 2 hectares whose surface has remained unchanged since 1580.

The estate produces a maximum of 6,000 bottles per vintage and only sells this wine in “variegated” cases of 13 bottles. It is then necessary to buy an assortment of the other grands crus of the estate to own a single bottle of Romanée-Conti and also to be a beneficiary of the estate to be able to buy this case and undertake not to resell it for speculative purposes.

Which makes this wine one of the rarest and most expensive in the world.