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.