La Tache
La Tâche is one of the smallest appellations in France and one of the few in the world to be wholly owned by a single proprietor. Six hectares of Pinot Noir vineyards on a hillside in Vosne-Romanée, all belonging to the ‘Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’, produce a wine that many wine critics rate higher than the domaine’s better-known wine, ‘Romanée-Conti’.
La Tache location
La Tâche is one of the smallest appellations in France and one of the few in the world to be wholly owned by a single proprietor. Six hectares of Pinot Noir vineyards on a hillside in Vosne-Romanée, all belonging to the ‘Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’, produce a wine that some wine critics even rate higher than the domaine’s better-known wine, ‘Romanée-Conti’.
La Tache is located in the commune of Vosne-Romanée, in the Côte de Nuits, the northern half of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. The vineyard is situated on the middle section of the hillside, just south of the narrow strip of La Grande Rue, whilst Romanée-Conti and La Romanée lie higher up the slope, to the north. On the other three sides, it is surrounded by Premier Cru vineyards..
The appellation La Tache
La Tache means ‘the task’, and it became established when the de Croonemberg family bought this land from the Abbey of Saint-Vivant in 1631, together with a plot that later became Romanée-Conti. In 1760, André de Croonemburg sold both plots, and they passed to different buyers – thus the two neighbouring vineyards took different paths.
La Tâche was confiscated during the French Revolution, then passed from hand to hand and eventually came into the possession of the Liger-Belair family. For most of this time, it was a small vineyard covering an area of approximately 1.4 hectares.
Its area was increased as a result of legal proceedings. The ‘Les Gaudichots’ vineyard was located next door, and during the 19th century, most of its plots were acquired by the family behind what is now known as ‘Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’. When this estate began selling the harvest from these plots under the ‘La Tâche’ label, Liger-Belair took the matter to court. Liger-Belair lost the case, and most of ‘Les Gaudichots’ was incorporated into ‘La Tâche’. A small portion was recognised as meeting the quality standards of a Premier Cru and still exists under its old name.
The estate acquired the original ‘La Tâche’ in its entirety in 1933, two years after the death of Henri Liger-Belair. When this appellation was officially established in 1936, the expanded vineyard was classified as a ‘grand cru’ as a single entity.
The vineyard
6.06 hectares, precisely measured in 2019. This is more than three times the size of ‘Romanée-Conti’ and makes it the largest single holding in the domaine’s portfolio. Annual production ranges from 18,000 to 22,000 bottles, depending on the harvest. The permitted yield is 35 hectolitres per hectare, although the winery rarely comes close to this figure, harvesting between 20 and 30, and sometimes even less.
Terroir
The key feature is the slope. Higher up, the soil is thin and stony, resting on limestone, which ensures rapid drainage and forces the vines to work hard. Lower down, there is more clay, which retains water during the dry summer. The vineyard is long and narrow; it stretches up and down the slope rather than across it, so a single bottle combines elements from both parts.
Grape variety
Pinot Noir, and only Pinot Noir. Burgundy's grand cru rules do leave room for something else: accessory varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, up to 15% interplanted.
Who owns it?
No one but Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. This is precisely what the term ‘monopole’ means, and it is unusual: most Burgundy grands crus are divided amongst dozens of owners, whilst Clos de Vougeot, as is well known, is owned by around eighty. Vosne-Romanée is an exception: in a single village, there are four Grand Crus belonging to a single owner. ‘La Tâche’ and ‘Romanée-Conti’ belong to this domaine, ‘La Romanée’ to the Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair, and ‘La Grande Rue’ to the domaine of François Lamarche.
