Domaine du Compte Liger-Belair (also called Château de Vosne-Romanée) is recent, it was created in 2000 by Viscompte Louis-Michel Liger-Belair. But the family settled in Burgundy well before that date. The Château de Vosne-Romanée was acquired by Louis Liger-Belair in 1815, with a domaine that was then 60 hectares (including the famous plots of La Tache, les Malconsorts and les Brulées!). The family history in the twentieth century was subsequently tumultuous. The domaine was sold at auction in 1933, before the two brothers (and Count Michel) redeemed a part of it and notably one of the jewels of Vosne: La Romanée, the smallest AOC of France (0.84 ha). The plots were left for sharecropping with winemakers and Burgundy houses. In 2000, the arrival of Louis-Michel Liger-Belair changed everything. The domaine was recreated, he put an end to the sharecropping of La Romanée and other plots by Bouchard and took over the bottling (from 2001 to 2005, part of the production was still bottled by Bouchard). The 9 hectare area is managed following the principles of biodynamic agriculture and is now one of the best of the Côte de Nuits.

La Romanée is legendary in more ways than one. It may be France's smallest PDO, at just 0.87 hectares, but it is a genuinely immense wine. La Romanée reveals all its sophistication after a few years in the cellar. The result is a real explosion of black berries and spices, developing into notes of smoke and undergrowth. Very full bodied, silky and fresh in the mouth, this Grand Cru presents remarkable complexity and length on the palate. Comparisons with her big sister at La Romanée-Conti are always interesting...