Romanée-Conti Grand Cru

In the heart of Vosne-Romanée, Romanée-Conti covers barely 1.8 hectares between 260 and 270 meters, on a gentle east-facing slope, with Richebourg to the north, Romanée-Saint-Vivant to the east, La Grande Rue to the south, and La Romanée upslope. A red Grand Cru from Pinot Noir, it has been recognized since September 11, 1936.

The vineyard was one of the four clos that the Cluniac abbey of Saint-Vivant owned at Vosne, listed in 1512. Sold in 1584, it remained with the Croonembourg family until 1760, and by 1676 it was already called Romanée, perhaps from the old French “romenie,” a wine of legend. In 1760 it was bought, at a high price, by Louis-François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, who gave it his name. Confiscated during the Revolution and sold in 1794, since 1869 it has belonged to the family of the present owners: it has never been divided and keeps its sixteenth-century boundaries, partly marked by old walls.

The brown, calcareous, very clayey soils, about 60 centimeters deep, rest on marls and crinoidal limestones. The wine stands out more for delicacy and complexity than for power: intense in youth, with fruit, forest floor, and leather, it develops subtle, at times floral aromas of rare suavity and long persistence, and shows its best after some fifteen years. The available bottles, when there are any, appear further down.