1993 Romanee St Vivant

Arnoux's top two cuvees should be no surprise to his fans. The Romanee St.-Vivant offers everything the Vosne-Romanee Les Suchots does, except it possesses more tannin and is more tightly-knit and closed. It is a beautifully made, rich, concentrated, persuasively powerful 1993 that has the intensity of fruit and extraction to more than compensate for the wine's moderately high tannin level. Give it 4-5 years in the cellar and drink it over the following 15 years. Arnoux's 1993s are unequivocally major successes for the vintage. Before his death, Arnoux and the man currently responsible for the wine-making, Pascal Lachaux, had been voluntarily moving toward less fertilization, higher extraction, and more natural bottling. To their credit, the 1993s were bottled without fining or filtration. These are promising wines, with considerable complexity, well-integrated tannin, and copious quantities of sweet, expansive Pinot Noir fruit. A Peter Vezan Selection, various American importers, including Ideal Wines, Medford, MA; tel. (617) 395-3300