The 1945 Domaine Romanee Conti

The 1945 Domaine Romanee-Conti (DRC) is considered one of the finest quality wines globally. A profound & vivid scarlet robe and a suavity of outstanding elegance characterize it. Moreover, it is one of the most expensive brands of Burgundy with excellent fragrance – a nice blend of violet and cherry perfume.

This wine has been highly appreciated for generations, and its vineyard is recognized for its superb wine quality. Its location in the Vosne Vineyard Territory is ideal for optimal grape ripening, more towards the western region than in the eastern areas. Moreover, it always receives the first sun rays of each day during every season, imbuing it through the energy of the day’s hottest temperatures.

The La Romanee wine is considered the best from the Côte d’Or region – some consider it the best among all the vineyards in the French Republic. It distinguishes itself from other wines from other preferred terroirs due to its lovely velvet color, scent enchants, and ardor. It is always well preserved, and its quality is improved each year, particularly after the 8^th to 10^th year of preservation. For instance, La Tache DRC Burgundy red wine was selected on 24-25 September 2016.

Arnaud 25, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Despite diminishing harvests due to vine vigor, Romanée-Conti was among the last few Burgundy vineyards to be restructured with grafted vines during the Phylloxera Pandemic. Before the pandemic, the last vintage wines were produced in 1945, during which the yield was only 1/10^th of today’s production capacity – or approximately 2.5 hectoliters/acre. Consequently, only 600 wine bottles were produced due to the yield.

1945 Domaine Romanee Conti is Always counterfeited

Did you know? Over the decades, thousands of bottles have been traded, claiming to be 1945 DRC.

These bottles also included large-format bottles that Domaine had never filled with that particular vintage. This trade continued to occur despite there has always been limited production and continued consumption of these wines. Consequently, it has been established that DRC 1945 is always counterfeited to an astonishingly high degree. After the harvest of 1945, the older grapes had been uprooted, and the vineyard was rendered uncultivated – or fallow. The vineyard was replanted in 1947; however, it did not produce any DRC vintages until 1952.

Also, read The 1945 Domaine Romanee Conti and Its Survival of the Phylloxera Pandemic.

The DRC 1945 vintages produced before World War II were extremely expensive, even before replanted vineyards. The most costly Burgundy in 1945 on the wine list of 21 Club was the 1929 Romanée-Conti – priced at $18. For comparison, a full dinner at 21 Club would cost at least $15, whereas working-class folks would pay $35-50 for an economical lunch at the Automat. Since 1985, the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti vineyard has been using organic farming.