Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Echezeaux Grand Cru 2003

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From the founding of the Saint-Vivant priory at the dawn of the 10th century to the present day, the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and its wines boast a rich and beautiful history. However, the name by which all wine lovers know the estate was slow to emerge. While the first vines were planted by the priors during the 13th century, it was the "Cloux des Cinq Journaux" (cloux being an ancient spelling of clos) that should be referred to when referring to the plot.

In 1651, for the first time, the term "Romanée" was added to the name of the plot, and half a century later, in 1794, confiscated by the revolutionaries, the plot was sold to the highest bidder and renamed "Romanée Conty" after having belonged, albeit briefly, to Prince Louis-François de Bourbon-Conti.

In 1869, at the age of 79, Jacques-Marie Duvault Blochet realized a lifelong dream by purchasing the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Passed down to the De Villaine family through Dominique Chambon, great-granddaughter of Jacques-Marie Duvault Blochet and wife of Edmond Gaudin de Villaine, co-owned by the Leroy family since 1942, the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti produced one of the most sought-after Burgundy wines in the world in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti is at the heart of what makes Burgundy legendary, offering almost exclusively grands crus. Few labels inspire such admiration and passion (unreasonably, some would say).

The vines now reach a very advanced average age. Their cultivation, largely inspired by biodynamics (but never claiming to be), allows each terroir to express its particularities through the grapes with unsurpassed strength. The vinification process is of an almost biblical simplicity: the grapes are rarely destemmed, if at all, and temperatures are never manipulated to obtain greater color or more pronounced aromas. Aging takes place in new oak barrels, and the first year of aging in the admirable cellar of the former monks of Saint-Vivant allows for increased aromatic freshness.

From the consistent, earthy, and generous Corton to the powerful and feline Richebourg, via the fine and vigorous Echezeaux and Grands-Echezeaux, and the wonderfully elegant Romanée-Saint-Vivant, the wines unfold like a collection of jewels. Always true to itself, La Tâche produces one of the most complete wines in Burgundy, while Romanée-Conti offers a bouquet unique in the world, and the divinely light fullness of its body. Intense and deeply ripe, Montrachet takes on a truly sublime balance after eight to ten years of aging, making all the other wines of the appellation pale in comparison. 2019 sees the arrival of Corton-Charlemagne, from four plots totaling 3 hectares.