Pinot Noir 1996 Auction (0008-10712271)

Lot : 0008

Overview

Condition	Cellared
GST:	Inclusive (see below note)
Buyers premium	10%
Deliver to	Nationwide Delivery
Category	Private Cellar
Enquiry	Grays Help Centre
Lot ID	0008-10712271
Part of Sale	Rare & Fine Wine - Les Grands Vins de France
Warranty	No Warranty Applies. Warranty No Warranty Applies.

Domaine de la Romanee-Conti is without question the most famous estate in Burgundy and arguably the greatest, producing some of the best wines in the world. It is probably one of the most traditional wineries in France. Wines are produced in small quantities while the demand is huge. The domaine has 25 hectares of vineyards, all Grand Crus, including the jewel in the crown, the 1.8 hectare monopole of Romanee Conti.

Romanee-Conti, a vineyard of four and a half acres,was originally the property of the Abbey of St. Vivant. In 1760 Prince Conti acquired it against the competition of a famous collector of jewellery, Madame de Pompadour - the king's minister against the king's mistress. He withdrew it from the market and reserved it for his own dazzling social events. It was he who created the myth surrounding Romanee-Conti.

The price of this tiny, treasured vineyard was 80.000 livres, which in those days was worth a small kingdom. Reclaimed as property of the nation during the Revolution, the vineyard passed through the hands of several proprietors to an ancestor of the present owner for 14.000 gold pounds in 1868.

In June 1940 began the journey of 16-year-old Andre Noblet from estate's cellar caretaker to chief winemaker. The moment was not exactly favourable for the young man, as in July France was occupied by Germany. This single-minded and intelligent young man wanted to learn as quickly as he could all there was to know about the making of the estate's wines, and Louis Clin did not spare his efforts, time or knowledge from this eager and gifted youth. As early as 1946 Andre vinified his first wines under Mr. Clin's supervision. Andre Noblet finally took over the whole responsibility for the estate's wines after the death of Louis Clin.

We are the keeper of a certain philosophy of wine and, mainly, we are concerned by the perfection in details" assures Aubert de Villaine.

Aubert de Villaine became co-director of the domaine in 1974. His goal at the domaine is to bottle a wine that has had almost no manipulation, but is the result of perfectly balanced, healthy fruit. At the domaine everything is directed at producing great wines which are ideal for keeping. Biodynamics, used over the last ten years, has led to a change in direction under the new leadership of Henry Frederic-Roch, one of the domaine's co-managers, together with Aubert de Villaine.

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Region:: FRA - Burgundy
State:: Imported

Expert Reviews

Fantastically pure with the classic spice box, hoisin and soy nose followed by big, rich, very structured flavors that display notes of earth, leather and tea. The tannins are big, ripe and are completely buffered by the sap with length that is simply phenomenal. This remains completely primary in character and seems not to have budged at all since it was bottled. A genuinely great vintage for La nche that is softer in the mouth than the '96 Grands Ech and this should improve for another decade and last for 50 years. Very classy juice. Note: while it's happened only twice in my experience, the '96 can be intensely vegetal on the nose and not exhibit the purity that the wine is justifiably famous for; however, I have tasted so many outstanding bottles of the '96 LT that I view these two examples as outliers.

Score: 96Allen Meadows, Burghound.com (44), October 2011

Winery Profile

The most prestigious wine estate in Burgundy, based in Vosne-Romanée. 'The Domaine', as it is frequently called, is co-owned by the de Villaine and leroy families and produces only grand cru wines: one white, Le Montrachet, and six reds: Romanée-Conti and La Tâche (both monopoles of the domaine), Richebourg, Romanée-St-Vivant, Échézeaux, and Grands Échézeaux. For more details of individual wines, see Vosne-Romanée and Échézeaux. The Domaine is the exception to the law according to which no estate in Burgundy may be named after a specific vineyard. Its wines are notable for their richness and longevity.

History

What is now Romanée-Conti was identified by the monks of St-Vivant as Le Cloux des Cinq Journaux in 1512 and sold off, as Le Cros de Cloux, in 1584 to Claude Cousin. His nephew and heir Germain Danton sold again to Jacques Vénot in 1621. Vénot's daughter married a Croonembourg, which family retained the vineyard, now known as La Romanée (first mentioned in 1651), for four generations until it was sold to the Prince de Conti in 1760. The title Romanée-Conti was not used, however, until after dispossession by the revolutionaries and its sale by auction in 1794.

Romanée-Conti was bought by Julien Ouvard in 1819 and sold by his heirs to Jacques-Marie Duvault-Blochet 50 years later. Duvault-Blochet's eventual heirs were the de Villaine family. In 1911, Edmond Guidon de Villaine became director of what was now known as the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, selling a half-share in 1942 to his friend Henri Leroy.

Over the years, Duvault-Blochet built up major vineyard ownership including part of Échezeaux, Grands Échézeaux, Richebourg, and the section of La Tâche known as Les Gaudichots. In 1933, the rest of La Tâche was bought from the Liger-Belair family, making a monopoly, and a small holding of Le Montrachet (0.67 ha/1.6 acres) was added in three slices between 1963 and 1980. The Domaine entered into a long-term contract to farm and produce the wines of Domaine Marey-Monge's holding of Romanée-St-Vivant before eventually buying the land in 1988. This necessitated selling part of their Échézeaux vineyards and a slice of Grands Échézeaux, although they continue to farm the land and bottle the wines. Further vineyards owned by the Domaine in Vosne-Romanée and Bâtard-Montrachet are sold in bulk.

View Domaine de la Romanee-Conti website

Other Information

1996 vintage
1 x 750mL unit
FRA - Burgundy, Imported
Cork closure

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Warranty Details

As this is a Private Cellar sale we are unable to guarantee the contents of the bottles. GraysOnline normal 30 Day Money Back Guarantee does NOT apply to wines in this sale. All wines are bought on an "as is" basis, and no returns or refunds will be accepted on the basis of quality.

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Domaine De La Romanee Conti La Tache Grand Cru 1996 (1 x 750mL), France.

Closed: 05 July 2022 20:45 AEST

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