2003 Romanee St Vivant

Described by Mme. Leroy as being aromatically reminiscent of “a bouquet of flowers,” the perfumed, floral, red fruit-scented 2003 Romanee-St.-Vivant reveals massive depth to its red cherry, raspberry, and candied strawberry-flavored character. Medium to full-bodied, this focused, satin-textured effort combines characteristics of precociously forward fruit with firm tannin and an impressively long finish, rendering the maturity predictions exceedingly difficult. 2008-2015? Represented by Leroy, Inc., San Rafael, CA; tel. 415-457-4811, various importers, including Martine’s Wines, Novato, CA; tel. (415) 883-0400; Stacole Imports, Boca Raton, FL; tel. (800) 741-7791; Lauber Imports, Somerville, NJ; tel. (908) 725-2100; and MacArthur Beverages, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 338-1433

Ruby-red. Liqueur-like aromas of raspberry and strawberry. Thick, chewy, rich and deep, but a bit heavy for this cuvee , without its usual energy in the middle palate. But the wine offers extraordinary texture and superb concentration, even if it's not particularly sweet. Finishes with major, toothcoating tannins. Those who rate wines more on their density of texture than their complexity and definition of flavor might well score this wine higher than I do.