La Romanée

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The geographical area lies within the Côte de Nuits, a rectilinear relief of tectonic origin stretching approximately 25 kilometres in a general north–south direction.
• The Côte de Nuits separates the limestone plateaux of the Hautes Côtes to the west, at elevations of between 400 and 500 metres, from the Bresse plain to the east, a Tertiary graben whose altitude is approximately 250 metres at the foot of the Côte.
• The temperate oceanic climate, tempered by continental or southerly influences channelled northward through the Rhône corridor, has a moderate rainfall of approximately 750 millimetres per year and a mean annual temperature of 10.5°C.
• The slope, with a drop in elevation of approximately 150 metres, consists of a series of Middle Jurassic limestones, including the particularly compact Comblanchien limestone, which forms the structural backbone of the relief.
• The bedrock, composed of Bajocian marls and soft, frost-susceptible limestones, is concealed beneath a thin layer of colluvium combining scree, clays and silts, giving poorly developed, calcareous, clayey, well-drained soils coloured red by a high concentration of iron oxides.
• The plot of the climat de la Romanée rests on grey-beige marls overlain by angular yellow and red gravels, then by limestone scree blocks from slope deposits, reddish silt with gravel of the grèze type, and frost-shattered limestone fragments, on a steep slope of 10 to 12%. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• The vine rows of this climat are planted perpendicular to the slope, oriented along a north–south axis. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• In the twelfth century, the Cluniac monastery of Saint-Vivant held a viticultural estate at Vosne consisting of four adjoining but distinct enclosed plots (clos or cloux), recorded in a deed of 1512.
• The tiny parcels of the lieu-dit, sold at auction during the Revolution, were brought together as early as 1815 by General Comte Liger-Belair, whose descendants remain the owners of the lieu-dit at the Château de Vosne-Romanée.
• In 1816, Jullien ranked the wine of 'La Romanée' in the first class among the fine wines of Burgundy, a classification confirmed by Lavalle in 1855 ('Tête de cuvée hors ligne') and then by the Beaune Viticulture Committee in 1860.
• The vines are planted at a high density, exceeding 9,000 plants per hectare in accordance with the practices prevailing in the Côte de Nuits, and the wines undergo extended ageing.

• The wines express both power and charm, being solid and full-structured while always displaying great harmony.
• The whole develops intense aromas that may evoke ripe or candied red and black fruits, musk, leather or humus, with a very great length on the palate.
• These wines have an ageing potential of several decades, which is often beneficial to their full development.

• This natural environment is fertile yet not excessively so, owing to well-structured clays rich in iron oxides, and it enjoys an optimal water balance through the combination of a surface layer that retains moisture and a draining limestone subsoil.
• Gently sloping and facing east, slightly dominating the plain, the climat is sheltered from morning mists and spring frosts while benefiting from generous sunshine.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in France

Sources

• Product specification (BO Agri, PDF)
• Official INAO text (show_texte)
• INAO product entry
• Official trade body site — BIVB