Our wine expert reveals the seventh of his list of the World’s Best 12 Fine Wine Estates with Burgundy and the world’s most iconic wine estate.
Known by many simply as ‘the Domaine’ to honour the esteem in which it is held in Burgundy, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is a historical institution core to French culture and symbolism, and as celebrated as the Arc de Triomphe or Napoléon Bonaparte. Is it any surprise that 1,000 fine wine professionals from 120 countries voted the Domaine the Golden Vines® World’s Best Fine Wine Producer three-years running? Thankfully, for the rest of the fine wine world, they can only win the Award three times in a decade, so Vega-Sicilia was able to win the crown in 2024.
For any lover of Burgundy wines, a visit to the estate in the village of Vosne-Romanée is a right of passage. The problem is that getting an invite is harder than seeking a fireside chat with the King of England. Thankfully, in September 2012, my wine mentor and friend, the late, great Gérard Basset, managed to wangle an invite for the two of us to barrel-taste with the now-retired head winemaker, the tall and very redoubtable, Bernard Noblet.
Towards the end of the tasting, Bernard asked Gérard what year his son, Romané (named after the Domaine), was born: “1999”, Gerard answered. Bernard then said he was off. Five minutes later, Bernard returned with a bottle of 1999 Grands-Echézeaux. For Gérard, a man who had tasted many of the world’s greatest wines through a long and storied career which included being crowned World Champion Sommelier in 2010, this wine, drunk in the near darkness of the underground cellars at the Domaine, was one of the greatest wines he had ever tasted. The taste lived long in the memory.
The Domaine’s key assets are its vineyards. Other than perhaps Chambertin Grand Cru and Musigny Grand Cru, it either owns outright as a monopole – La Romanée-Conti and La Tâche – or co-owns all of the greatest Grands Crus in Burgundy – Richebourg, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Grands Echézeaux, Echézeaux, Corton, Corton-Charlemagne (on a long-term lease) and, of course, the greatest white wine vineyard in the world, Montrachet. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that many consider its wines the greatest in the world of wine.
Domaine de la Romaneé-Conti is the wine world’s most valuable ‘old-school’ brand, with a deep history of tradition and excellence. Perrine Fenal, the new co-director of the estate since the premature passing of Henri-Frédéric Roch in 2019, made it abundantly clear to me that the Domaine is concerned about tradition, history, and producing the best wines from the vineyards inherited from past generations of hard-working, dedicated vignerons whose life-work was “the Domaine, and only the Domaine”. There is no interest in encouraging high prices, facilitating wine investors to purchase their wines in the secondary market, or promoting a luxury-image for their wines. Indeed, luxury is the antithesis of what they believe in: “It’s not our truth”, says Perrine, “we are here to make the best of the treasures we have inherited from the Cistercian monks and our forefathers, and we shouldn’t put our legacy in danger by highlighting the price label on our wines – it’s not the light we wish to shed on the Domaine”.
As you would expect, the prices of the Domaine’s wines change hands at record prices, including a bottle of the famed La Romanée-Conti 1945 which sold at a 2018 Sotheby’s auction in New York for a world-record price of half-a-million dollars. Wine investors’ top buying choice, the Domaine’s wines are viewed by the market as investment-grade, ultra-premium luxury products that will forever rise in value, irrespective of the original price paid. Occasions of actually drinking these prized assets are becoming ever rarer, unless you are extremely rich, have little regard for money or death is fast approaching!
Lewis’s Best 3 Wines from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
La Tâche 2010: a wine that still has a long trajectory ahead of it. I was wowed by the aromas of rose petals, potpourri, and sweet cherry. A wine of power and grace, structured fine tannins and an intense energy running through the mid-palate. And then there’s the finish, which seems to run forever.
La Romanée-Conti 1991: with only a thimble of a serving at a Burgundy La Paulée party, and heady after having drunk around fifty wines beforehand, I can only remember that the wine was majestic and superlative. Nothing else really matters, does it?!
La Tâche, 1978: I tasted this wine once, almost two decades ago, but still remember the taste like it was yesterday. From one of the most iconic Burgundy vintages, ethereal floral aromas mixed with delightful delicate meaty and black earthy notes. Seemingly weightless as the liquid crossed my tongue, there was an enormous amount of power and depth which built into a long and memorable finish.
The 2025 edition of the Golden Vines awards will take place in Miami between November 7-9. liquidicons.com
