200. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, La Tâche Grand Cru, 1945 (1 x 750ml) Region: Burgundy Fill Level: 5.5cm under base of capsule Capsule: slightly nicked and bin-soiled Cork: ok Label: slightly damp-affected and slightly scratched and marked on the top right Packaging: neutral carton La Tâche 1945 occupies a remarkable place in the history of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, arriving at the very moment the Domaine was being transformed. Although the vineyard's origins are ancient, the modern La Tâche took shape in 1933, when the Domaine acquired the original parcel. In 1936, the enlarged vineyard was granted its own appellation as Grand Cru La Tâche, a monopole of the Domaine. 1945 brought the first harvest of peacetime after World War II, and one of the smallest Burgundy had ever known. Spring frost and violent summer storms drastically reduced yields, yet the grapes that survived reached exceptional ripeness and concentration, producing wines of rare intensity in tiny quantities. The vintage also marked a turning point for the Domaine. After the 1945 harvest, the ancient, ungrafted vines of Romanée-Conti were finally uprooted, bringing the last great pre-phylloxera vineyard of the Domaine to an end. La Tâche then assumed a central role. Cuttings from its vines were used to replant Romanée-Conti in 1947 and 1948, and from 1946 to 1951, while Romanée-Conti produced no wine, La Tâche stood as the Domaine's flagship. The replanted vineyard yielded its first vintage in 1952. The 1945 La Tâche is therefore far more than an old vintage of the Domaine. It stands at the very beginning of the monopole's modern history, made just as the Domaine's old vines were disappearing, and the vineyards that would define it for generations to come were being reborn. Provenance and Authenticity This bottle had only two owners and was given to its current owner in 1974. It has remained in the same cellar ever since, resting undisturbed for more than fifty years in the cellars of a wine estate in France. Its authenticity has been examined both by Bonhams specialists and by independent authentication expert Mads Duus Pedersen of Enoauthentica, and the full report of the analysis carried out on the bottle is available upon request.