Investment Tips - Burgundy - 30. September 2021

Multiple Vintages And Formats: Invest In Legendary Romanée-Conti

Extremely rare opportunity to invest in wines from the holy grail: Romanée-Conti from the DRC. Wild historical returns, hysterically rare, and massive demand.

Domaine De La Romanée-Conti Is An Elite Institution Among The World's Best Wine Brands 

Humility. Extravagance. Superiority. Perfectionism. The adjectives line up to describe the fabled Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, whose elite position of power at the top of the Burgundy podium is unquestionable.  

Since the 1980s, the magical Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) has emerged as one of the absolute best Burgundy producers and the undisputed ruler of the Vosne-Romanée wine mecca. In fact, there is only one producer in the world who really stands comparison - Domaine Leroy. 

All the world's wine connoisseurs and lovers know and dream about the king of wines, the Romanée-Conti from the DRC, but few see these bottles in real life and even fewer can get hold of them. 

Except right now and right here, where you have the opportunity – even in several vintages and several bottle sizes...

Find out more about the huge potential below and see supply and prices at the bottom of the article.

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The Feeling Of Touching A Perfect Moment

Aubert de Villaine is the head of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and he described the vision for the domain's wines to Le Particulier in a rare interview. Here it becomes abundantly clear why they are described as the holy grail of the wine world. 

The aim is to create wines that, when drunk, feel like touching the perfect moment. It is to realise that the wine has found its way to the bottle on its own. Based on respecting the grapes, the terroir, and the given climate, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti seeks to create a perfect marriage between itself and the wine.   

Hence perfection. Hence the status of legends. Hence inexhaustible demand.

Also read our in-depth portrait of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

Returns out of proportion 

When the 1990 vintage of DRC's Romanée-Conti was released in 1993, the price was in the region of € 150 per bottle if this currency had existed. According to wine-searcher.com, the same vintage today costs up to € 38,000. Converted, this gives a return of 25,200 % over the past 28 years. This equates to an average annual return of 21.8 % for approximately 28 years. 

None Above – Few Beside: Romanée-Conti From DRC Is What Dreams Are Made Of

Romanée-Conti is worthy of its star status in the wine world. This is proven by the massive rain of high, great scores time after time - after time, after time, after time.   

The otherworldly quality coupled with an almost non-existent supply and massive thirst for Romanée-Conti drops naturally results in high prices. Around 5,000 bottles of Romanée-Conti are produced in the ordinary vintages, and because the vineyard cannot be expanded and directives prescribe a maximum harvest yield, supply cannot be increased. 

Romanée-Conti is rare already at release. And it is made no less rare by the fact that it is sold on an allocation basis, with often very old distribution agreements determining who gets allocated the already scarce quantities. 

But now you have that access through RareWine Invest.

Great Wines With Even Bigger Historic Price Increases 

Historically, it is among the most expensive and prestigious wines where the most furious price increases have taken place - and the wines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti are undeniably part of this segment. However, one should also be aware that the wines here are also the most price sensitive. For example, the UK wine exchange, Liv-ex, reported on 12 August this year that their DRC index dipped 8% from August 2019 to April 2020. 

However, this should only be seen as a small bump in the road for the long-term investor, because since then prices have come back in earnest. This is manifested, for example, by the fact that the flagship Romanée-Conti has set a new all-time-high price every month since April this year, according to Liv-ex, which represents DRC's product portfolio quite well.  

However, this also presents buyers with the challenge that it is impossible not to buy into DRC's wines at a premium – but in this perspective it is worth mentioning that it is now many years since the industry first said: "Now wine cannot get more expensive, the top has been reached" – something that has been said many times since. 

All common sense has thus been shattered time and again, and there is no indication that there is a top for these prices. 

Unique Opportunity To Invest In Mythical Romanée-Conti From Legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti - In Perfect Condition, Of Course 

The range of Romanée-Conti that you have the opportunity to invest in here is a rarity. Below you will find an overview of the scores of the vintages now offered for investment. Included is Allen Meadows of Burghound's assessment of when the vintages' drinking window starts. Only Burghound has estimated this on all vintages. Wine Advocate sees the drinking window lasting both 20 and 30 years on vintages they assessed, so even in the older vintages there is still a long life and great investment potential.

Vintage BH WA VI AVG Drinking Window  
2012 98 99 98 98,3 2034+ 
2010 99 97-99 98+ 98,3 2030+ 
2009 98+ 98+ 98+ 98 2034+ 
2006 97 98 96+ 97 2026+ 
2003 99+ 99-100 100 96 2028+ 
2002 97 90 96 94,3 2020+ 
1999 99+ 95-99 100 98,7 2024+ 
1990 99 98 95 97,3 2020+
BH: Burghound WA: Wine Advocate VI: Vinous

Why Choose Magnum?

Besides size, magnum bottles have several qualities a wine investor can benefit from. The magnum bottle is twice the size of a regular 0.75L bottle, but the amount of oxygen in the bottle is not correspondingly greater. 

This means that the wine in magnum bottles is exposed to less oxygen compared to the wine in an ordinary bottle. This contributes to wine in magnums maturing better and having even greater storage potential. Of course, these characteristics also apply to the larger formats.

In addition, the number of magnum bottles produced is generally significantly lower than that of normal sizes. And if the format is even larger, they only become rarer.

NOTE: Vintage 2018 is the last vintage where Domaine de la Romanée-Conti produced large formats. The existing ones are thus the last we get to see.

What Are The Future Prospects For Domaine De La Romanée-Conti? 

DRC has already proven that they are masters of the wonderful art of wine. However, there are factors they cannot control, and Aubert de Villaine has expressed concern about this. French inheritance laws are complicated, so passing on the domain to the next generation can be difficult and very costly.  

In addition, there is an overriding climate threat that is already showing its teeth – including on the world's vineyards. DRC is adapting to the weather, but it can be difficult to protect 100 %.  

As an investor, all these factors will come into play, as the wines on offer here are from good, solid vintages in Burgundy, where the wines were made in more or less optimal conditions. If the weather in the coming years and decades turns out to be really bad, these bottles could be some of the last from a period when everything worked optimally for the owners of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. 

Rarewine Invest's Opinion

Wine romantics, wine collectors and wine lovers all over the world are thirsting for drops with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti as the sender. And the thirst only increases when the wine comes from the grand cru monopoly: Romanée-Conti. Every wine romantic wants to touch the perfect moment, and the wine investor seeks the perfect investments.  

DRC has it all. Fantastic producer and one of the world's best wines from Romané-Conti, inexhaustible demand and a supply that almost doesn't exist. In addition, historical price increases validate the potential of DRC wines and uncertain future prospects make existing wines even more attractive.  

Here you are not just investing in a specific world-class vintage wine. You are investing in a mythical tale as well as an artifact that comes only to the few: regardless of vintage. Which of the wines below you should choose depends on your temperament. We recommend each and every  one of these rare bottles. If you need help choosing the one that suits you best, we are ready to assist.

If you want to secure an investment opportunity in some of the world's most exclusive and prestigious wines, now is your chance.  

Invest in Romanée-Conti

Contact us via the contact form at the bottom of the page if you want to know more about your investment options or order the wines directly through the form.

VINTAGEWINEVOLPACKINGQTY.PRICE/BTL.*
1990Romanée-Conti750Loose (US Label)2€ 25.000
1999Romanée-Conti750Loose (US Label)1€ 24.000
2002Romanée-Conti750OWC12 (repack)12€ 22.500
2002Romanée-Conti MAG1.500OWC11€ 55.000
2002Romanée-Conti Methuselah6.000Loose1€ 360.000
2003Romanée-Conti750Loose1€ 18.000
2005Romanée-Conti750Loose (US Label)1€ 23.000
2005Romanée-Conti MAG1.500Loose (US Label) 2€ 68.000
2007Romanée-Conti MAG1.500OWC3 (US Label) 3€ 52.000
2009Romanée-Conti750OWC3 (US Label)3€ 22.500
2010Romanée-Conti750Loose (US Label)1€ 21.000
2010Romanée-Conti750OWC33€ 24.500
2012Romanée-Conti750Loose (US Label)2€ 19.000
*All prices are in EUR ex. customs duty, tax, and VAT for delivery to a bonded warehouse. Prices including customs duty, tax and VAT can be sent on request. The wines are only sold in whole cases unless otherwise specified and the price is per bottle. Minimum order size € 2,500. Assumes a total minimum investment of € 10,000. Prices may have changed since release of this article. Reservations are made for errors.

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