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.
92 Points Allen Meadows
An expressive, spicy and relatively high-toned nose of both red and black pinot fruit that is terrifically complex introduces fresh, intense and notably mineral-driven medium full flavors blessed with plenty of dry extract that lends a real sense of body and fullness to the firm and vibrant finish underpinned by a lovely feeling of tension and punch. Interestingly, the tannins are slightly less refined than those of the Echézeaux but it matches it in virtually ever other category. This may very well be the best vintage for this cuvée since 1999 when the domaine began releasing it periodically.
90 Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
he Domaine’s 2006 Vosne-Romanee Duvault-Blochet represents an assemblage from younger vines in Echezeaux, Grands-Echezeaux, Romanee-St.-Vivant, and Richebourg whose fruit did not make the cut for the estates grands vins. (Such a second wine has been essayed on several other occasions during the past decade. Previous bottlings of this cuvee were labeled “Vosne 1er Cru” which has led to occasional confusion. While the Domaine de La Romanee-Conti notoriously owns choice parcels of several Vosne premier crus, they have never – at least under the current management – bottled any wine from those sites, but rather only from their grand cru holdings.) Dark cherry, black raspberry, licorice, and charred meat in the nose lead to an initially lush, silken-textured palate, generously-fruited and tinged with clove and mace. The abundance of fine-grained tannin here becomes evident in the finish, accentuated by a hint of detached oak, but lightly-cooked fruit, charred meat, and spice continue to generously dominate.