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.
94 Points Allen Meadows
A cooler, more elegant and equally spicy nose of mostly red fruits and Asian-style tea is wonderfully fresh if notably more restrained. As is typically the case there is more size and weight to the broad-shouldered flavors that are shaped by firmer and slightly less fine-grained tannins on the impressively persistent finish. This is not as concentrated or powerful as it usually is but even so, it is going to require at least 10 years or so of patience and should amply reward 15 to 18.
94+ Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
More brooding and reserved than the Échézeaux that preceded it in the tasting, the 2017 Grands Échézeaux Grand Cru unwinds in the glass with an enticing bouquet of cassis, blackberries, blood orange, exotic spices and musk. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, ample and fleshy, with a more introverted, structured profile than the Échézeaux, its considerable reserves of concentrated fruit framed by an abundance of powdery tannin and succulent acids. Long and penetrating, this will reward sustained bottle age.
18.5/20 Jancis Robinson
Pale garnet. More closed on the nose than the Échezeaux. Again a certain ferny quality. Quite high toned. Massive energy and zest with quite marked acidity and fine tannin at this stage. Real health juice! Grainy texture and lots to chew on.