Vosne-Romanée is a French wine appellation that produces some of the finest red Burgundy . Wine so labeled must come from vines planted in the commune of Vosne-Romanée (or the adjoining commune of Flagey-Echézeaux with which it is viticulturally joined) situated in the Côte de Nuits region of the Côte-d’Or department in Burgundy in eastern France.
Just as Burgundy supplies the benchmark against which all other Pinot Noir is judged, so does the commune of Vosne-Romanée manifest the apotheosis of Burgundy. While there are of course great vineyards found in other communes (one need only mention Musigny to make this point), Vosne-Romanée consistently provide the greatest proportion of the finest red Burgundy.
According to tradition, local Gauls drafted by Caesar into the Roman army were later rewarded with the grant of vineyards in the area, known accordingly as “Romanée”. The village of Vosne, known as early as 639 A.D. as “Vaona,” was apparently derived from a latin word for forest. By the 9th century, much of Vosne belonged to a Cluniac priory named in honor of St. Vivant. By the 13th century, however, the vineyards came to be controlled by the Abbot of Cîteaux. In fact, the last Abbot of Cîteaux died in Vosne in 1797.
The twinned communes of Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Echézeaux are located east of the Route National (“RN”) 74, between Vougeot to the north and Nuits-Saint-Georges to the south. Out of a total 0f 230.06 hectares of vines in both communes, there are 74.68 hectares of Grands Crus: La Romanée-Conti (1.82 hectares), La Romanée (.85 hectare), La Tâche (6.10 hectares), Grands Echézeaux (9.14 hectares), La Grande Rue (1.65 hectares), Romanée St-Vivant (9.44 hectares) , Richebourg (8 hectares) , and Echézeaux (37.69 hectares). There are also 56.61 of Premier Cru vineyards, including Les Beaux Monts (11.39 hectares), Aux Brûlées (4.53 hectares), Les Chaumes (6.46 hectares), Clos des Réas (2.12 hectares), La Croix Rameau (.60 hectare) Cros Parentoux (1.01 hectares), Au dessus des Malconsorts (1.08 hectares), Les Gaudichots (1.03 hectares), Aux Malconsorts (5.86 hectares) , En Orveaux (1.79 hectares), Les Petits Monts (3.67 hectares), Aux Reignots ((1.62 hectares), Les Rouges (2.62 hectares), and Les Suchots (13.08 hectares). There are also 98.77 hectares of village-level Vosne-Romanée
The village-level vineyards are mainly found east of the town along the Route Nationale, although there are also a few uphill on the western boundary of the commune. The grands crus and premiers crus are situated in a central belt extending the length of the commune, west of the village. The soil is comprised mostly of clay-limestone mixture over a limestone base; the surface is covered with loose pebbles and decomposed limestone. The exposition is east and southeast, at an elevation of between 220m and 340m.
There are many fine producers in the appellation, but the most celebrated and expensive continues to be the historic Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Although high reputations are also still enjoyed by Domaines Leroy, Meo-Camuzet, and Jean Grivot, the consensus of critics today (Clive Coates, Allen Meadows, John Gilman, Jancis Robinson) seems to accord highest praise to Comte Liger-Belair and Sylvain Cathiard. Other noteworthy vignerons include Anne Gros and Gerard Mugneret.
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