Domaine de la Romanée Conti is co-owned by the de Villaine and Leroy/Roch families, the former successors to Jacques-Marie Duvault Blochet who bought the vineyard of La Romanée Conti in 1869, the latter since acquiring the shares of other descendants of Duvault-Blochet in 1942. The Domaine is today run by Aubert de Villaine and Henri-Frederic Roch. Many people in Burgundy just refer to ‘DRC’ as “the Domaine”.
The domaine has 30 hectares of vineyards, all Grand Crus. As well as the the 1.8 hectare monopole La Romanée Conti, the Domaine purchased its other monopoly, La Tâche, in 1933, along with significant holdings in the grand crus of Richebourg, Romanée St Vivant, Grands-Echezeaux, Echezeaux, and Le Montrachet at various points in the 19th and 20th centuries. Corton was added in 2009 with Corton-Charlemagne to be released in 2018. The Domaine is the largest owners of each of the red wine grand crus.
96 Points Jasper Morris
Not one of the deeper colours and suggesting the start of evolution. The bouquet however is blissful, shining out ahead of its neighbours in the tasting. The marvellous rose petal perfume suffuses the nose. The palate is rather more austere, with some acidity, but it begins to fill out nicely with exposure to air. There are some greener notes, relevant to the use of stems in a just ripe vintage, but this is absolutely part of the style which gives such high class aromatics. One of the bottles of the evening.
96 Points Allen Meadows
The nose remains highly aromatic, indeed almost kaleidoscopic in the sheer breadth of aromas but it’s the spice that is so remarkable cut with floral and stem hints that add depth. The medium-bodied flavors are quite fine with beautiful detail, indeed they are chiseled, and a drop dead gorgeous velvety texture that is soft in the middle yet still moderately firm on the exceptionally long if ever-so-mildly bitter finish. The overall character is discreet and understated and in classic RSV fasion, this is built along the lines of elegance and finesse. In large format, this is still on the way up and I would suggest holding it for another 8 to 10 years
95+ Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2002 Romanée Saint Vivant from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has a heavenly bouquet. It was served blind but the tangible stem addition betrayed the grower, particularly when it was later compared next to an Henri Jayer. The bouquet is very complex with red berries, tree bark, a touch of dried blood and smoke, but what is striking is the delineation. The palate is medium-bodied and as you would expect, extremely well balanced. There is plenty of sappy red fruit here suffused with sage and rosemary, a touch of spice enlivening a finish that has impressive density (so much so that it could pass as a Richebourg.) I was not the only person to notice how it became more more savory and ferrous in the glass, after 30 minutes suggesting a touch of Japanese tea (the proper, thickly textured type). Just wondrous.