Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Horizontal Collection

The name Domaine de la Romanée-Conti may be the most well-known in the world. Known by most simply as “DRC” and those in Burgundy as "The Domaine," the wines produced under the DRC label are some of the most in-demand and expensive wines on the planet. Only working with fruit from Grand Cru vineyards, the caliber of wine is nearly unmatched in the world of wine. Unsurprisingly, as the market for Burgundy has boomed in recent years, the demand for DRC has as well. The Liv-Ex Burgundy 150 Index was up 28.6% in 2021, and the momentum has been sustained into 2022, with the index up 46.3%* over the past twelve months. According to Liv-Ex pricing data, the wines in this collection have followed suit and are collectively up 44.3%* over the same period. A unique aspect of the surging Burgundy market is that demand has been somewhat seasonal over the past few years. Prices have consistently surged in the fall and winter, then slowed or declined slightly in the spring, before rebounding in the summer and building into the fall. Capitalizing on the annual spring price thaw, Vint acquired these wines below Liv-Ex market value. This collection is also timely because Aubert de Villaine, the figurehead of DRC, announced his retirement after 48 years of acting as winemaker and co-manager. While DRC is officially a partnership between the de Villaine and Leroy families, Aubert had been the face of the domaine for decades, and his name has appeared on every bottle of DRC since his tenure began. While the quality or style of winemaking is unlikely to be impacted by his leaving, there are now a finite number of bottles with Aubert de Villaine's name on them, which could potentially add to their collectibility in the future. The wines themselves are the last and most important elements of this collection to discuss. The 2011 vintage was challenging across Burgundy. In an interview with Burghound, Aubert de Villaine was quoted saying, "in the 46 years** that I have been a vigneron in Burgundy, I have never seen a vintage such as 2011 where the difference between success and failure hinged so completely on luck." In 2011, luck was on DRC's side, and while the yield was reduced by 30%, the wine produced was of extremely high quality. Burghound's founder and renowned Burgundy critic, Allen Meadows, described the quality of the wines as "excellent and among the best that the vintage has to offer." Overall, the wines of Domaine de la Romanée Conti are some of the most sought after in the world and have been so for many decades. Demand for top-tier Burgundy continues to spread to new markets around the world, the already tight supply of DRC is being stretched even thinner, and the wines are becoming even more challenging to acquire. This collection offers the opportunity to shore up the foundation of your wine portfolio with the absolute pinnacle of wines that Burgundy has to offer. *April 2021 - April 2022 **de Villaine worked in Burgundy elsewhere prior to DRC