Sotheby’s is organizing an auction in Hong Kong on the 4^th of October of this year, in which this fabulous lot of 114 bottles of Romanée Conti, as well as a private collection of Gran Crus, from Netscape’s founder, Jim Clark, containing a lot of Henri Jayer magnums.
This auction should move the great collectors and Burgundy amateurs in all of Asia. Of the 778 lots proposed, 40% will be represented by Burgundies, weighing for more than 70% of the total value, that’s estimated at in between 4,5 and 6,7 million dollars.

A lot of 114 bottles of Romanée Conti is a unique event, probably in one’s lifetime. This auction should leave it’s mark for years to come.

Acker, Merall Condit’s are organizing an auction in New York on the 6th of September. Again, Bordeaux and Burgundy Grand crus, will have collectors drooling. Such as a vertical of Châteu Lafite, or a lot of 5 “millésimes” from DRC Richebourg, from 1990 and 2006.

Fine and rare wine auctions, are continuously growing, reaching more amateurs and collectors from all over the world.

L’article Auction: an exceptional lot of Romanée Conti est apparu en premier sur Blog World Grands Crus.

After a very serious study issued from a comparison of 30,000 worldwide merchants sites, the first ranking is not the Domaine de la Romanée Conti, but the wine of Henri Jayer a Richebourg Grand Cru rouge côtes de nuits, Pinot Black. The second is the Domaine Romanée Conti  with a Romanée Conti also a Grand Cru Rouge Côte de Nuits Pinot Black . Back to Henri Jayer for  the third place, with a Vosne Romanée Cros Parantoux a red first Cru of the Côte de Nuits and always still Pinot Black . How and why are these wines are so different? Because they are legendary wines , the most complex and the most refined in the world. They are the fruit of a great winemaker and, or, a great domaine . These are rare wines, which are increasingly scarce over time. Richebourg has a surface of 8.03 hectares and Romanée 0.85 hectares , therefore they are not comparable to the super productions of thousands of hectares in other wine regions. Burgundy is a vineyard of “gardens” worked with passion and closer to men because of its deliberately limited space . In addition , these wines are capable of successful aging despite a delicate and precious grape, as the Pinot Noir . Following with the ranking :

4. Domaine Leflaive Montrachet Grand Cru, Côte de Beaune

5. Egon Muller Scharzhof Scharzhofberger Trockenbeerenauslese Riesling , Mosel , Germany

6 . Domaine de la Romanée Conti Montrachet Grand Cru, Côte de Beaune

7 . Domaine Georges Roumier Musigny Grand Cru Côtes de Nuits

8. Georges and Henri Jayer Echezeaux Grand Cru, Côte de Nuits

9. Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru , Cote de Nuits

10. Petrus , Pomerol , Bordeaux

These wines are unique, extraordinary and without equivalent , reflecting the work of passionate winemakers and in love  with their vineyard.

L’article THE TOP TEN WINES OF THE WORLD est apparu en premier sur Blog World Grands Crus.

With 0.84 hectares, La Romanée produced 350 cases on average in an abundant year, against 250 cases in the least productive years. Just to give you an idea for comparison, a great Bordeaux wine produces an average of 30,000 cases per year! Romanée represents 1% of the Châteaux Margaux or Chateau Mouton Rothschild  productions.

History :

According to Mr. Liger Belair , the vineyard was already famous in the 14th century , and apparently the walls surrounding it could be dated from this period, despite the restorations. The last 7 generations preceding Mr. Liger Belair, where already linked to La Romanée . On the other hand he says that La Romanée was part of La Romanée Conti at some point of its’ history, despite of the fact that these two vineyards have always been distinct from each other. It is difficult to check the veracity of this statement, because at the time, La Romanée Conti was often called La Romanée. It’s true, that when the confiscation of the Romanée Conti from the Prince de Conti, in order to be sold for” for the benefit of the Republic ” the sales document identified the vineyard as La Romanée. Whatever the ultimate truth, historical documents emphasize that the ancestors of the family Liger Belair acquired 6 plots by marriage, previously known as “Aux Echanges ” in 1815. Over the next 12 years, the five remaining plots where added. It was during the acquisition of the last parcel that the vineyard previously known as “Aux Echange ” was recorded by Louis Liger Belair in Dijon as La Romanée, which is now the monopoly of the family Liger Belair.

The Liger Belair Family was also the owner of “La Tache ” now owned by La Romanée Conti. On the death of the great- grand father of Louis- Michel Liger Belair, in 1924, the estate was passed on to his great-grandmother , who kept it for her grandchildren. But when she died in 1933 , the heirs’ members who did not want to keep the vineyard were forced to sell La Romanée , La Tache and Reignots . Edmund Gaudin bought La Tache in August 1933 , and merged it with the Gaudichots plots in order to create the current La Tache. To save part of the family’s’ patrimony, a priest named Juste Liger Belair bought at an auction that same year La Romanée and Reignots. The vineyard was bequeathed to his nephew, who died in 1941 during the 2nd World War.

From 1946 to 2001, the vineyard was given to a sharecropping family named the Forey family. In 2002, Louis-Michel Liger Belair took over the management of the vineyard and is now responsible for the winemaking of La Romanée , as well as all the work in the vineyard.

Winemaking :

Since he took over, Louis-Michel Liger Belair has changed several viticultural practices such as tillage : using a horse and a light tractor , to avoid compacting the soil too much. It also reduces the use of herbicide. But one of the main points for Louis Michel, is to be extremely careful during the extraction in the vatting process since he doesn’t use enzymes or commercial yeast, and without maceration post- fermentation. The grapes are macerated under a cool and controlled temperature (15 ° C) for 7 days. Once the wine in barrels, the marc is pressed lightly to extract the best quality tannins. “As soon as the wine press resists, I stop pressing to avoid bitter tannins in the final mix.”

The vineyard is located above La Romanée Conti, south of Richebourg and north of the Grande Rue . La Romanée has always shown a lot of similarity to its neighbor, La Romanée Conti. The strong point of La Romanée is its perfect completeness, where no particular aspect dominates another . This wine should be mentioned amongst the elite of Burgundy wines. It belongs to the same category as La Romanée Conti, La Tache , Musigny , Chambertin and Richebourg.

As far as tasting goes, La Romanée requires an effort of the person who tastes and requires a lot of time to express the genius he is capable of delivering. La Romanée requires at least twenty years to reach its peak , but when this bottle is ready to be tasted , you will have there one of the most sublime wines in the world.

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L’article La Romanée, Domaine du Comte Liger Belair est apparu en premier sur Blog World Grands Crus.