On Sunday 18th of April 2021, Baghera/wines will hold  the "La Romanée Memories" auction at the Beau-Rivage Genève. 150 years of this prestigious nectar, with a total of 1,926  bottles, magnums and a jeroboam of La Romanée Grand Cru will be presented at this historic sale. 

The bottles, testimony to a state of preservation close to perfection, come from the time-honoured cellars of Bouchard Père & Fils, one of the most distinguished houses in Burgundy, in continuous activity for nearly three centuries.

“ La Romanée Memories 1862 – 2005 ” is a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire one of the majestic bottles of this sensational collection, bottles with perfect provenance and impeccable state of preservation.

Baghera / wines : Christophe, you do us the honour of being our guide among the countless archives of Bouchard Père & Fils, collated and preserved by your ancestors here at Rue du Château in Beaune. There are many testimonials of the relationship between the Maison Bouchard and the grand cru, La Romanée.

Christophe Bouchard, Archives Consultant, Bouchard Père & Fils : Among the many testimonials kept here in the company archives, I will first show you a label of this famed bottle of Romanée. Bouchard Père & Fils had an establishment in Bordeaux and that’s why we see the mention “same establishment in Bordeaux” : it was in fact a shipping counter that was used for exports to the United States, England, Norway and Russia. Here are some other labels from La Romanée with the mention “same establishment in Bordeaux”. These labels were in use until about 1910.

I have found circulars that give an overview of the vintages from 1900 to 1932. The 1906 vintage: “average harvest – so when we say average, it is a harvest of average volume – excellent quality – robust and full-bodied wine – very generous – when we say very generous, these are wines that generally have a high alcoholic potential – robust and full-bodied ”. The 1911 vintage     “an excessively small quantity – either due to a spring frost or to weather conditions – the quantity was very small but the quality was exceptional”. The 1915 vintage “average harvest – still in terms of volume – very generous, full-bodied wines that will have to be awaited for some time”. This implies that these are wines which were certainly very tannic and which took some time to improve in the bottle.

All these documents that have been collated were written by my ancestors. Each year after the harvest, a letter was sent to customers and suppliers to give them an overview of the harvest. I’ll read this, “Beaune November 1906. In Burgundy, the vine adapts wonderfully to the scorching seasons. The year 1906 from beginning to end was therefore particularly favourable to our vineyard and produced wines with a promising future. Quality: colourful wine, spirited, the wines of the lastest harvest have an absolute clarity of taste and great finesse.

Their firmness also predicts a long life – therefore certainly a little tannin – which guarantees them a bright future. Quantity: on the other hand, the quantity is very small in proportions varying from a quarter to a third of the production of an average year. A small quantity of excellent quality. This is the summary of the situation. Furthermore the estate is not willing to accept the low prices which have too often been the result of disastrous circumstances – implying too large volumes in previous years – for the moment the prices of 1906 are at the price of the beginning of the excellent 1904 and we can deduce with certainty that they will rise in the future”. And as always a little reminder of the previous vintage: “the pleasant but light 1905 wines have found their use in everyday consumption”.

Baghera/wines:  Tell us about the plot of La Romanée...

Philippe Prost, Ambassador, Bouchard Père & Fils : To be able to talk about this plot, you have to have been there, you really have to have seen it. It’s truly something remarkable, completely different from Romanée-Conti. We are above la Romanée-Conti on a very interesting south-north orientation. There is a certain gradient, 10 to 12%. We are at the foot of the Vosne-Romanée les Reignots and the very fact of having invested this orientation, a rein against erosion, allows us to preserve the soil. The originality of the soil lies in a small limestone pebble which comes down from the Reignots and has settled there, and this forms a deeper, more temperate soil. In my opinion, this is a truly wonderful orientation, which can also be found on the Côte de Beaune and on some of the grands crus of the Côte de Nuits. It is also a way of protecting the fruit under the leaves at the hottest moments of the day. You know what we are going through today with climate change, well in the nineteenth century also, there were years with extreme heat and drought, such as 1865. So, protecting the fruit under the foliage is a way to avoid the plant experiencing water stress.

This plot has lived through different eras with different share-cropping domains in charge of its cultivation. When you are a sharecropper, you vinify the fruit of the work of a whole year, it’s a way of understanding what happens throughout the year! That’s what it means to listen to the plants. I think that being a sharecropper and taking charge of the vinification is a powerful symbol. The fact that a sharecropper does take charge of the vinification is truly the continuity of the whole year’s work. We have a treasure: it’s the terroir. Here we’re talking about an appellation — La Romanée — where the terroir is so expressive. There is a transferral in which we all have a common role to play: that of passing on the “ message of the terroir ”. That above all else.

To know the vintages, to know the plant, it’s a wonderful thing because it allows you to respond to them in a way which is completely in tune with what is happening. Working to fine-tune the “ vintage character ” a little, but also trying to develop the unique message of the terroir: that’s something tremendous. You have to understand the notion of Grand Cru: there is an entity that comes from the soil, a signature note, a message that is so strong that the influence of the vintage can be crushed. Each time there are the same signature notes, the same messages and the same aromatic reminder: it is the signature of the terroir, it is something unique. It is essential to avoid any crushing of these signature notes, by a winemaker’s ego, and to respect the balance. You always have to work on balance and texture, that’s important.