The acronym DRC is a potential minefield. Besides Drug Rehabilitation Centre or Dutch Reformed Church, it more commonly refers to the Democratic Republic of Congo or Domaine Romanée-Conti.
The former is perhaps the most misruled, war-torn kleptocracy in Africa, the latter is the most rarefied and expensive wine in the world. My preference is always for the Domaine Romanée-Conti: less sexual violence, more deliciousness.
The wine has a long history. The Romans cultivated this tiny slice of Burgundy a couple of millennia ago, with the Benedictines taking over from the Bishops of Langres and Autun in the tenth century. Its most illustrious five-acre vineyard was purchased by the Prince de Conti in the 18th century; upon his death it was sold to one of Napoleon's bankers. Then as now, only a few hundred cases were produced each year.
But it's not the pedigree that really matters. Rather, it's the calibre of Romanée-Conti and the handful of other wines produced by the Domaine—all in mystique-fuelling miniscule amounts. The First Growths of Bordeaux—Latour, Lafite, Mouton, Haut-Brion and Margaux—produce on average 100,000 cases annually, whereas DRC releases around 6,000—and less than 500 of these are Romanée-Conti. The only other exclusive wine they produce is La Tâche, in twice the amount as the Romanee-Conti, plus portions of Richebourg,Romanee-St.Vivant, Grands Echézeaux and straight Echézeaux.
