2020 | Domaine de la Romanée-Conti | Corton-Charlemagne

Description

White Wine: 2020 | Domaine de la Romanée-Conti | Corton-Charlemagne

There is exceptional weight here but it doesn’t become heavy. Now a touch of toast from the barrel, then back to the fruit.

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Producer: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

Ratings: WA | 97VN | 97

Vintage: 2020

Size: 750ml

ABV: 14%

Varietal: Chardonnay

Country/Region: France, Burgundy

There is exceptional weight here but it doesn’t become heavy. Now a touch of toast from the barrel, then back to the fruit. Very ripe greengages, along with some citrus, entirely underpinned by the natural minerality. To be as concentrated as this and yet feel entirely balanced is impressive.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2020 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has turned out beautifully, offering up aromas of crisp pear and green apple mingled with notions of hazelnuts, lime zest, white flowers, nutmeg and freshly baked bread. Full-bodied, satiny and concentrated, it’s ample but incisive, with a vibrant spine of acidity and chalky structuring extract. Combining the depth and intensity of flavor of 2019 with supplemental cut and tension, it’s a step up in quality from that excellent debut vintage.

• Vinous: The 2020 Corton-Charlemagne once again gives the Montrachet a run for its money. Aromatically penetrating and vibrant, the 2020 offers up a compelling mix of lemon peel, white flower, almond, white pepper and a host of bright, saline notes. The 2020 oozes class and precision from the very first taste. It’s another wine I went back to many times over the course of this tasting.

Producer Information

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, or DRC as it is commonly known, is easily Burgundy’s best-known and most collectible wine producer. Based in the Burgundy village of Vosne-Romanée, the domaine sells wines from eight different grand cru vineyards that span the length of the Côte d’Or. The most famous comes from the eponymous Romanée-Conti vineyard, and on average is the most expensive wine in the world. The domaine predominately produces Pinot Noir-based wines from 28 hectares (69 acres) of grand cru vineyard. Alongside Romanée-Conti are La Tâche, Romanée-Saint-Vivant and Richebourg in Vosne-Romanée; plus Échezeaux and Grands Échezeaux bottlings. Fruit from Corton-Bressandes, Corton Clos du Roi and Corton Renardes is combined in a single Corton Grand Cru red. There are three white (Chardonnay) wines made. Only one of these, the Montrachet is made widely avilable. A Bâtard-Montrachet and a Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits are not publically distributed. Of course, La Romanée-Conti is the domaine’s most famous asset, and the amount of wine made from less than 2ha (5 acres) of land amounts to just 6000 bottles a year. The vineyard has a long history, dating back to the Abbey of Saint-Vivant in the 13th Century. It took on the Romanée name in 1631, and the Conti in 1760. In 1869, it was obtained by Jacques-Marie Duvault-Blochet, who left it to his great grandchildren upon his death. It was then that the Société-Civile du Domaine de la Romanée-Conti was established to avoid Napoleonic inheritance laws. Today, DRC is owned in part by the de Villaine family and in part by the Leroy family. The decades-long figurehead of the estate, Aubert de Villaine, stepped down from his role in 2022 and nephew Bertrand de Villaine currently oversees the estate. It was famously run by Lalou Bize-Leroy for a time, until a dispute saw her ousted from control. DRC’s eight grand cru wines are a familiar label on the world auction scene, and are notable for the high prices they regularly fetch, particularly the Romanée-Conti. Unfortunately, this comes with its own challenges – it is also one of the world’s most frequently counterfeited wines.