Romanée-Conti

Romanée-Conti is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for red wine in the Côte de Nuits subregion of Burgundy, France, with Pinot Noir as the primary grape variety.

It is situated within the commune of Vosne-Romanée and is a monopole of the winery Société Civile du Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, which takes its name after this vineyard.

[citation needed] Ferran Adrià sold four bottles of Romanée-Conti 2004 for US$52,062 at a Sotheby’s auction in New York in April 2013.

[2] On 13 October 2018, at Sotheby's of New York, a single bottle of Romanée-Conti 1945 from the cellar of Robert Drouhin sold for $558,000.

[4][5] Romanée-Conti has been called "one of the greatest wines of the world and the most perfect as well as the most expensive of Burgundy ... with a forceful bouquet of violet mixed with a scent of cherry, a lively and profound ruby robe, a suaveness of exceptional finesse.

Its situation in the vineyard territory of Vosne is the most advantageous for the perfect ripening of the grapes; higher in the west than in the east, it receives the first rays of the sun in all seasons, being thus imbued with the impetus of the greatest heat of the day.... We cannot disguise the fact that the wine of La Romanée is the most excellent of all those of the Côte d'Or and even of all the vineyards of the French Republic: weather permitting, this wine always distinguishes itself from those of the other terroirs of predilection; its brilliant and velvety colour, its ardour, and its scent charm all the senses.

Well kept, it always improves as it approaches its eighth or tenth year....[7] Wine critic Clive Coates praised the Romanée-Conti as: "the purest, most aristocratic and most intense example of Pinot noir you could possibly imagine.

[10] Legend has it that the high price was the result of a bidding war between the Prince of Conti and Madame de Pompadour, but this has been shown to be a myth concocted by inhabitants of Vosne to add to the prestige and mystique of the vineyard.

[11] In 1793, following the French Revolution, Romanée-Conti was seized from the last Prince of Conti by the state; and it was auctioned off in 1794,[7] simultaneously with La Tâche.

[14] Romanée-Conti ended up being purchased by Nicolas Defer de la Nouerre, who then sold it to Julien Ouvrard, in 1819, for 78,000 francs.

In 1855, when Jules Lavalle published his classification of the Burgundy vineyards, Romanée-Conti was one of those he placed in the highest of five categories, tête de cuvée.

[21][22] In 2008, 1.88 hectares (4.6 acres) of vineyard land was in production within the AOC, and 26 hectoliters of wine was produced,[23] corresponding to just under 3,500 bottles.