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As promised—did you guess the world’s most expensive red wine? As with the white, (Chateau d’Yquem, my last posting) putting your finger on just one isn’t easy. With vintages taken into consideration, a few different Bordeaux wines stand out (along with burgundies) that could easily make the potential cut.
The phenom, the rare, classic red that ascends to the forefront is Romanee-Conti from Burgundy. A bottle of 1978 vintage was sold at auction for a reported astronomical $24,000. a bottle.
As with the Semillon grape and its exclusive vineyards that make Chateau d’Yquem, Romanee-Conti is made from the pinot noir grape, where only this grape is grown, and to perfection. The entire production of Romanee-Conti is a scanty 400-500 cases per year. The restricted production and resultant high prices make the wines very hard to find. But they set the standard for every other red burgundy.
Vosne-Romanee is the home of five
Grand Crus(“great growths,” top-quality French wine) La Tache, Romanee-Conti, La Romanee, Romanee-St-Vivant, and Richebourg. It is also home to the legendary and through the roof priced wines of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.
To add to these assets, it also has its own approach to winemaking: low yields, late picking of the ripe grapes, a mild, lengthy fermentation, eighteen-plus months in new oak barrels, and minimal filtration.
These wines are guaranteed to be exciting, rich, and have an amazingly deep taste, wine intended for a particularly long life. These wines are something more than just great tasting- they are celebrated masterpieces of nature.
Stay tuned for Wine Word Wednesdays, a foray into terms, definitions and regions you’ve probably heard of but never had a clue as to what they were or what they meant. Each week will have a general theme; so keep it here to become well informed.
A teaser- Foxy: ‘gamey’ smell in wine; usually wines from America, from indigenous vines.


