La Romanée wine appellations
La Romanée is a wine appellation on the outskirts of the pretty town of Beaune in the commune of Vosne-Romanée in the Burgundy region of France. It is famous for being the smallest appellation in France with the total extent of the appellation being a tiny .84 hectares.
La Romanée was first established as an appellation on the 11th September 1936. The appellation is for red wines only.
Pinot Noir is the principal grape variety supported by Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. While these secondary varieties are white grapes they can only be used in the red wine up to a maximum of 15% of the blend.
The addition of small quantities of white grapes to a red wine is quite common in France especially in Burgundy and in the northern Rhone where small quantities of the white grape Viognier is often used to temper and enhance the Syrah that is used to make the stunning red wines of this region.
The La Romanée vines are closely planted in the typical Burgundian style at a minimum of 9000 vines per hectare.
This wine is not to be confused with their neighbour down the lane, Romanée-Conti, which is a separate appellation with different owners.