Winemaker Notes
From a tiny parcel of less than 0.3 ha of north-east facing vines planted in 1953 located very close to Grand Cru Echezeaux, aged in 50% new oak, 50% 1 yo oak. Produces just 3 barrels in a good year of finely structured more mineral wine of great perfume and spice. Not far from the Chambolle border and it always shows in it finesse and perfume.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Picked last by Sébastien Cathiard in most vintages, including 2018, this parcel of 70-year-old vines faces north east and is cooled by air currents from the Combe d'Orveaux. It's a very graceful, delicate wine that wouldn't look out of place in nearby Chambolle-Musigny: taut, floral and beautifully defined with chalky minerality, filigree tannins and crunchy black cherry flavours.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru En Orveaux is a magical wine in the making, wafting from he glass with a profound bouquet of cherries, licorice, exotic spices, rich soil tones and orange rind. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, multidimensional and muscular, with a deep and concentrated score, rich and powdery tannins and a long, succulent finish.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
This is the village for the most die-hard Burgundy fanatics. Vosne-Romanée has for many hundreds of years been the source of the most sought-after Pinot Noir in Burgundy. The village claims six Grands Crus—and some of the most famous at that—but in other villages where owners manage tiny parcels or a few rows of any one vineyard, monopolies dominate the Grands Crus of Vosne-Romanee.
Of these monopolies, Domaine Romanee-Conti (DRC) reigns supreme, claiming not only more total vineyard area than any other producer, but outright owning the entirety of two of the Grands Crus and a majority of two others. In its full possession are naturally Romanée-Conti, as well as La Tâche. DRC also owns most of Richebourg and Romanée-St-Vivant. The final two, La Grande Rue and La Romanée are completely owned by other other produers: François Lamarche and Comte Liger Belair, respectively.
While one could spend a lifetime on the puzzles of land ownership in Burgundy, the point is that Vosne-Romanee contains the most valuable pieces of vineyard real estate in the world. Pinot Noir from any of its vineyards—especially from within its 27ha of Grand Cru or 58 ha of Premier Cru land—is going to rank among the best.
The most outstanding wines from this village have everything: finesse and elegance coupled with the body and sturdiness for incredibly long aging ability. They are intensely floral and exotically spiced. Beautifully ripe, complex and ephemeral throughout, they are robust, yet fine-grained in texture. These wines will stay gorgeous for the long haul.