Romanée-Conti Grand Cru Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1996

Lot presentation

Romanée-Conti Grand Cru Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1996

The wine

Acquired by the Prince of Conti in 1760, this 1.85 hectare produces little more than 6,000 bottles a year of a legendary and exceptional wine. In order to get your hands on one, usually you need to buy the assorted case of 12 bottles of the domain’s different cuvées. A bit of history, after the French Revolution the domain was declared national property and had several owners, including the Duvault-Blochet family who bought several other parcels including La Tâche, Richebourg and Echezeaux. Today, every bottle of Romanée-Conti carries the double signature of Aubert de Villaine and Henry-Frédéric Roch. La Romanée-Conti was the last vine parcel in Burgundy to resist the phylloxera outbreak, but during the second world war the lack of carbon sulphur lead to its destruction. For five years, from 1946 to 1951, no vintages were produced there. The vinification and maturation conditions are exemplary, with several stages of sorting in the vineyard and in the winery in order to pick only the very best grapes. Nothing is left to chance, with the younger grapes being sold on to the Burgundy négoces, for example. The wine is matured in new oak barrels chosen specially three years in advance. This attention to detail makes for the production of truly exceptional wine. The aromas are magnificently complex, evoking rose, violet, spices, truffle and leather in a sumptuous and heady mix.

About the Producer La Romanée-Conti

The name Romanée-Conti is enough to make all wine lovers worldwide tremble in awe. In 1760, Prince Louis-Francois de Bourbon-Conti bought a piece of land in Vosne-Romanée, planted by the predecessors of Saint-Vivant, before dying in 1776. It was confiscated during the Revolution and sold to the highest bidder in 1794. Then the 1.8 hectare plot was renamed Romanée-Conti and its name was given to the most prestigious domaines of Burgundy. In 1879, Jacques-Marie Duvault Blochet bought this property and it is Henry-Frédéric Roch, Lalou Bize-Leroy and its director, Aubert de Villaine who own it today. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) has 25 hectares of vines in Vosne, mainly in the grand crus of the commune: La Tâche, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Richebourg, Echezeaux, Grands-Echézeaux and of course La Romanée-Conti. In the Côte de Beaune, the domaine has recently acquired three farms in Corton, in addition to its legendary Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet vines (small, non-marketed production). Although La Romanée-Conti is at the heart of the domaine, the domaine's other grand crus are irreproachable due to the work carried out both in the vineyard (biodynamic) and in the winery (where whole grape harvests are vinified). The yields are extremely low and some wines such as Montrachet are not dated yearly as the quantities are too low (this was the case in 1992 and 2016). Its price clearly confirms its greatness.

Detailed characteristics