Romanée-Conti
Styles
Principal grape varieties
Accessory grape varieties
Terroir
Natural factors
- The vineyard is located on the Côte de Nuits, a rectilinear ridge of tectonic origin extending over approximately 25 kilometres in a general north–south direction.
- The temperate oceanic climate, tempered by continental and southerly influences, has moderate rainfall of approximately 750 millimetres per year and a mean annual temperature of 10.5°C.
- The slope, with a drop of approximately 150 metres, is made up of a series of Middle Jurassic limestones, including the particularly compact calcaire de Comblanchien, which forms the structural backbone of the ridge.
- A layer of Bajocian marls is intercalated within the limestone sequence in the lower part of the slope, and the parcels lie between 260 and 270 metres of altitude in the hollow of this marly concavity.
- The soils are weakly developed, generally calcareous, shallow, and high in clay content, with a characteristic red colour resulting from a high concentration of iron oxides.
Human factors
- In the twelfth century, the Cluniac monastery of Saint-Vivant held a viticultural estate in Vosne received from Hugues II, Duke of Burgundy, comprising a harvest house, cellars, and four clos recorded in 1512.
- In 1760, Louis-François de Bourbon, Prince de Conti, acquired the vineyard at a price considered extravagant for the time and gave it his name, thus creating the Romanée-Conti.
- The vines are trained according to the practices of the Côte de Nuits, with planting densities exceeding 9,000 vines per hectare and a varietal composition based on Pinot noir.
Product characteristics
- In its youth, the wine expresses intense aromas very frequently combining fruity notes with hints of undergrowth or leather.
- The wine gradually develops sometimes floral perfumes of exceptional suavity allied to great aromatic length, and reveals the full range of its qualities only after approximately fifteen years of cellaring.
Terroir / wine link
- The soil is fertile without excess, thanks to its clay content, and a surface layer that retains moisture combined with a free-draining limestone subsoil ensures optimal water balance for the vine.
- The elevated position of the site, commanding a slight rise above the plain, shelters the vine from morning mists and spring frosts.
Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.
About this boundary
On the map, at overview zooms, this appellation is drawn as a silhouette of its vineyard generalised at 32 m from the INAO parcel delimitation; the parcels themselves appear as you zoom in.
Open Wine Map