Producer Notes for 1997 DRC Echezeaux Grand Cru - About the domain - The very mention of the name Romanée-Conti is enough to make any wine lover shudder throughout the world. In 1760, Prince Louis-François de Bourbon-Conti bought a plot of land in Vosne-Romanée, planted by the priors of Saint-Vivant, before dying in 1776. It was confiscated during the revolution and then sold to the highest bidder in 1794. It was then that the 1.8 hectare plot was renamed Romanée-Conti. It would give its name to the most prestigious estate in Burgundy. In 1879, Jacques-Marie Duvault Blochet bought this property and today it is owned by Henry-Frédéric Roch, Lalou Bize-Leroy and its director Aubert de Villaine. The Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) owns 25 hectares of vines in Vosne, mainly on the great vintages of the commune - La Tâche, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Richebourg, Echézeaux, Grands-Echézeaux and of course the Romanée-Conti. In the Côte de Beaune, the estate recently acquired the lease of three plots in Corton in addition to its legendary Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet vines (confidential production not marketed). Although the Romanée-Conti is at the heart of all the attention, the other great vintages of the estate are irreproachable by the work carried out both in the vineyard (managed biodynamically) and in the vat room (where the vinification of whole harvests is practiced). The yields are extremely low and some wines like the Montrachet are not vintaged each year due to quantities that are too small (this was the case in 1992 or 2016). Its price is obviously in line with the myth. About the vintage - A true icon of the Côte de Nuits, Burgundy and the world of wine in general, the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has produced a very grand cru here from the eponymous grand cru. It should be noted that the Les Echézeaux land register is one of the eight grands crus of the Vosne-Romanée commune and covers nearly 37 hectares. A large area if we compare it to the Burgundy average. The vines have been planted there for several centuries and owe their influence to the monks of the Cîteaux Abbey who quickly perceived the potential of this clay and limestone terroir. There, the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has nearly five hectares which ensure a production of 16,000 bottles per year. The Pinot Noir it is made of is reputed to be the earliest of the estate and to produce its most "accessible" wine, so to speak. The tasting thus reveals a wine of exemplary suppleness and freshness magnified by notes of delicate red fruits, flowers and very sweet spices. Particularly complex and persistent, it gains from aging a few years in the cellar to deliver itself with nobility. A wine to savor serenely, on its own or with fine gastronomic dishes.