Rene Engel

Domaine René Engel took its name from a legendary man who was born in 1894 in Vosne-Romanée in Burgundy. He attended the school of viticulture in Beaune from 1908 to 1911 and applied his knowledge to the family domaine.

In 1934, he found the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, based in the Château du Clos de Vougeot together with his friends Camille Rodier and Jacques Prieur. The idea was to show the high quality of Burgundy wines in a time when it was difficult to sell any wine in general.

In 1949, the son of René, Pierre Engel took over the domaine from his father who retired. Unfortunately, Pierre went ill and the domaine was more or less neglected in the 1970’s. Pierre passed away in 1981. (his father outlived his son for another 5 years and died in 1986 at the age of 92 years).

One of his sons, Philippe at the age of 26 years, managed the domaine with some help from his mother and within 10 years of time, he brought back the domaine at the top of Vosne-Romanée producers. In 1988, they decided to bottle all the wines at the domaine instead of selling the production to négociants. Philippe died suddenly in 2005 and the domaine was sold to François Pinault in 2006.

The new name for the domaine is d’Eugenie. Bottles of the “old” Domaine René Engel are much sought after and are becoming increasingly rare! The domaine’s portfolio included: Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru, Grands Echézeaux Grand Cru, Echézeaux Grand Cru, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru “Les Brûlées” and Vosne Romanée AC from numerous plots.