Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Vega Sicilia are the most famous wineries of the two neighboring countries located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, which are playing the first semi-final match of the 23rd FIFA World Cup. Burgundy's Romanée-Conti is best known for the fact that few people know about it.
The most expensive in the world
Very few has tasted their wines because they are the most expensive in the world and among the best. The wines are named after their locations, so it is good to know that Romanée-Conti, La Tâche, Richebourg, Romanée-Saint-Vivant, Grands Échézeaux and Échézeaux and Corton are planted with Pinot Noir, and Corton-Charlemagne and Montrachet with white Chardonnay.
The best wine is undoubtedly from the Romanée-Conti vineyard, and true football fans should decide which French national team player represents it better: Kylian Mbappé or Ousmane Dembélé. While the wine fame of today's Romanée-Conti (DRC) estate dates back to 1232 and the Burgundy abbey of Saint Vivant, the iconic Spanish winery Vega Sicilia was founded in 1864.
From France to Spain
The winemaker Don Eloy Lecanda y Chaves brought cuttings of the classic Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec from France and planted them in the Spanish region of Ribera del Duero. Today, Vega Sicilia have wineries in other Spanish regions and in the Hungarian Tokaj.
What Mbappé and Dembélé are to the French, Barcelona players Yamal and Pedri are to the Spanish national team. What these two are on the football fields, in the vineyards of Catalonia, Rueda and Ribera del Duero in northern Spain, are Tempranillo and Viura. Tempranillo produces beautiful wines with a very dark color and a soft, but complex flavor.
Tempranillo and Viura
It is also called Tinto fino, Tinta del país, Ull de llebre, Cencibel... The root of the name is the word temprano, which means early, because it bears fruit early. Viura is a large white variety from the Rioja region. In neighboring southern France, it is called Maccabéo, in other parts of Spain Macabeo and south of Barcelona it is also used to produce excellent sparkling wines, whose local name is cava.