Romanée-Conti

Discover the famous Romané-Conti appellation

The Romanée-Conti is probably the finest appellation available in Burgundy. Renowned all over the world, this AOC is one of the best grands crus you can find on the Côte de Nuits. The Romanée-Conti is made exclusively by the eponymous wine estate (which is actually on the UNESCO World Heritage List), often just shortened to "DRC". As for the Romanée-Conti vineyard itself, it has existed since the Roman Empire first settled in Burgundy.

Many years later, in 1631, the Croonembourg family bought a few grapevines owned by the Abbey of Saint-Vivant. The monks had been taking care of the 1,8 hectares plot since the 10th century; it was formerly known as the "Cloux des Cinq-Journaux" and then the "Cros des Cloux". The Croonembourgs chose to rename it "Romanée", when they learnt that the vineyard used to belong to an authentic Urban Prefect (Praefectus Urbi) of Rome. They also bought the parcel right next to the Romanée, called La Tâche.

In 1760, patriarch André de Croonembourg sold his vineyard to the Prince Louis François de Bourbon-Conti, one of Louis XV’s fiercest opponents. Then, when the revolutionaries seized the prince's possessions in 1793, they renamed the wine parcel "Romanée-Conti". In 1869, the Duvault-Blochet family (the ancestors of Aubert de Villaine) became the new owner of the Romanée vineyard. The family also came into possession of other future great appellations, such as Richebourg, Échezeaux and Grands-Échezeaux.

Another family, the Marey-Monges, acquired the Romanée-Conti vineyard in 1891. They stayed at the helm of the estate for a few years before selling it again in 1898. The official "Romanée-Conti" AOC was born in 1936 and the estate was once again sold, to the Leroy family, in 1942. The new owners now held the rights to the appellations "Romanée-Saint-Vivant", "Richebourg", "La Tâche", "La Romanée" and of course "Romanée-Conti".

In 1974, famous winemaker Lalou Bize-Leroy was elected co-owner of the estate, with Aubert de Villaine at her side. She left in 1988 to start her own estate: the Domaine Leroy. Today, the Romanée-Conti appellation is a huge name but it has a low output of up to 49 hectoliters of wine per year. The grapevines grow in a soil rich in marls, limestone, clay and iron. The entire estate switched to biodynamics in 1985.

Discover our selection of Romanée-Conti wines.