Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru 2009 – Burgundy France

Romanée-Saint-Vivant is the most floral and finely drawn of the Domaine's Vosne Grands Crus — lower on the slope, richer in clay and marl, and softer than the Richebourg above it. The 2009 is a warm, generous vintage rendered with the polish that separates this address from everything around it.

🍷 At a Glance

• Grape: 100% Pinot Noir
• Appellation: Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, Vosne-Romanée
• Region: Côte de Nuits, Burgundy
• Vintage: 2009
• Producer: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
• Holding: 5.28 hectares — the largest share of a vineyard divided among ten owners
• Soil: Limestone base with a notably higher proportion of clay and marl than the crus above, washed downhill over centuries
• Viticulture: Biodynamic since the mid-1980s; old vines, very low yields, hand-harvested in multiple passes
• Vinification: Whole-cluster fermentation with no destemming, indigenous yeasts, long macerations at moderate temperature; 100% new François Frères oak; unfiltered
• Production: 18,271 bottles
• Serving temperature: 15–17°C
• Style: Dry red wine

👃 Tasting Notes & Experience

• Color: Medium, classic Pinot ruby
• Nose: Soft, dense and floral — violets, blackberry, green tea and woodsmoke
• Palate: Voluptuous and ripe, with plummy fruit turning savoury and earthy
• Structure: Silky texture as the tannins recede; mid-weight rather than muscular
• Finish: Long, perfumed and polished

The Domaine farmed this vineyard from 1966 and bought it outright in 1988, financing the purchase by selling and leasing back part of its Échézeaux holdings. Of the six red Grands Crus made here, Romanée-Saint-Vivant is the one critics reach for words like grace and enchantment to describe — the Richebourg is bigger, but this is the more refined and focused of the two. Thirteen years after harvest it was described as still at the beginning of its evolution, with decades of improvement ahead. Even in a sunny year like 2009, it keeps its perfume and its poise.

❤️ Why We Love It

• One of the most collectible wines on earth, from the most famous address in Burgundy
• Whole-cluster, biodynamic, 100% new oak, unfiltered — the house method, unchanged
• A single bottle, and a warm vintage now entering its stride

🍽️ Food Pairing Ideas

• Roast Bresse chicken or guinea fowl
• Truffle, morels and wild mushrooms
• Aged Comté and Époisses

👤 Who This Wine Is For

✓ Serious collectors and once-in-a-lifetime occasions
✓ Drinkers who prize perfume, silk and length over power
✕ Not a wine to open young or without decanting time

98 points, Jane Anson for Decanter.