Site and vineyards
The Société Civile du Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is registered in Vosne-Romanée in Burgundy, France. The Domaine’s most important Grand-Cru vineyards are in Vosne-Romanée and in the neighbouring Flagey-Échezeaux. The vineyard plots on Corton are located on the Côte de Beaune.
The Grand-Cru holdings of Vosne-Romanée lie on east-facing slopes at heights of around 250 to 310 metres. Their soils are described as calcareous brown earths with clay and varying thicknesses over hard Jurassic limestone. The Corton parcels are in the climats Clos du Roi, Bressandes and Renardes on the hill of Corton.
Wines and grape varieties
The official Grand-Cru portfolio comprises Échézeaux, Grands Échézeaux, Richebourg, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Corton, Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne. Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Grands Échézeaux, Échézeaux and Corton are listed as red wines made from Pinot Noir. Montrachet and Corton-Charlemagne are white wines made from Chardonnay.
Romanée-Conti is a Grand-Cru appellation of the Côte de Nuits, produced exclusively as red Pinot Noir, and designated as a monopoly. The appellation area is 1.81 hectares. La Tâche is part of Vosne-Romanée, is also produced exclusively from red Pinot Noir, and comprises 5.94 hectares.
Historical development
The history of the future vineyard Romanée-Conti goes back to acquisitions by the priors of Saint-Vivant. Louis-François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti, acquired La Romanée in 1760; during the French Revolution the vineyard was confiscated and sold as national property. In the 19th century, Jacques-Marie Duvault-Blochet acquired Romanée-Conti.
The Société Civile du Domaine de la Romanée-Conti was formed, according to the official chronicle, on 31 July. Later, Henri Leroy acquired the shares from Jacques Chambon. Since 11 November 2008, the Domaine has cultivated Grand-Cru vines from the estate of Prince Florent de Mérode at Corton and harvested there for the first time in 2009. Corton-Charlemagne vines were added in November 2018 as part of a Métayage contract; the first harvest took place in 2019.
Vineyard and cellar work
The vintage reports document manual work in the vineyard, including spreading compost, working the soil, manual interventions and treatments for plant protection. For the 2018 vintage, a strict selection during harvesting is also described.
For the 2015 red cuvées, vinification was carried out with whole grapes without destemming; the fermentations lasted around 21 to 23 days. For the 2018 vintage, fermentations of 18 to 21 days and the subsequent moving of the wines into barrels after the fermentation stage are documented in blending vessels.
