THE BEST WINE IN THE WORLD
The Domaine Romanée-Conti is the most rarefied and expensive wine in the world, with vintages that need decades to mature. At a tasting for the 2006 DRCs, Bruce Palling hears one vintage intone “Leave me alone you fool--don’t you know I am trying to sleep?” ...
Special to MORE INTELLIGENT LIFE
The acronym DRC is a potential minefield. Besides Drug Rehabilitation Centre or Dutch Reformed Church, it more commonly refers to the Democratic Republic of Congo or Domaine Romanée-Conti.
The former is perhaps the most misruled, war-torn kleptocracy in Africa, the latter is the most rarefied and expensive wine in the world. My preference is always for the Domaine Romanée-Conti: less sexual violence, more deliciousness.
The wine has a long history. The Romans cultivated this tiny slice of Burgundy a couple of millennia ago, with the Benedictines taking over from the Bishops of Langres and Autun in the tenth century. Its most illustrious five-acre vineyard was purchased by the Prince de Conti in the 18th century; upon his death it was sold to one of Napoleon's bankers. Then as now, only a few hundred cases were produced each year.
But it's not the pedigree that really matters. Rather, it's the calibre of Romanée-Conti and the handful of other wines produced by the Domaine--all in mystique-fuelling miniscule amounts. The First Growths of Bordeaux--Latour, Lafite, Mouton, Haut-Brion and Margaux--produce on average 100,000 cases annually, whereas DRC releases around 6,000--and less than 500 of these are Romanée-Conti. The only other exclusive wine they produce is La Tâche, in twice the amount as the Romanee-Conti, plus portions of Richebourg, Romanee-St.Vivant,Grands Echézeaux and straight Echézeaux.
It's tricky to describe the difference in taste between red Burgundy and Bordeaux. Burgundy is more difficult to grow; only a handful of producers succeed in regions beyond Burgundy itself. At its best, it is floral, mouth-filling and heady, appealing more to the emotions than the intellect. But when off-target it is thin, weedy and without depth, which is why many Bordeaux lovers think it is a complete con (particularly as wines from the same region vary dramatically in price and quality). Bordeaux is more linear and straightforward, whereas Burgundy is more elusive and sensuous. Bordeaux is Bach, Burgundy is Mozart.