2014 Romanee St Vivant

(85% vendange entier ; 56% new oak): Bright dark red. Captivating perfume of black raspberry, pomegranate, cranberry, cocoa powder, licorice, violet and peony. Juicy, tactile and superconcentrated, with terrific mineral energy giving punch to the wine's berry and floral flavors. Outstanding density, clarity and class here but more backward and less perfumed today than the stunning Suchots. Serious tannins coat the entire mouth on the very long, powerful finish. This will require patient cellaring. The crop level for these vines and the Suchots was about 35 hectoliters per hectare in 2014, which winemaker Geraldine Godot described as relatively high for the estate.

Bright, dark red. Sexy, perfumed aromas of kirsch , raspberry, minerals and flowers; this could only be Burgundy, and from a high-rent neighborhood at that. Wonderfully silky wine with outstanding underlying power and thrust. The wine's alluring sucrosité is perfectly carried by fresh acidity and crushed-stone minerality. Finishes with outstanding tactile length and ineffable perfume, with firm, ripe tannins saturating the tongue. Classy juice!

The 2014 Romanée St Vivant Grand Cru, three and half barrels of it, has a perfumed rose petal and vanilla-tinged bouquet that is very delineated and lifted, with bright red berry fruit, perhaps even a dab of white chocolate. It is a fascinating aromatic. The palate is medium-bodied with fine and supple tannin, well judged acidity and a gentle grip in the mouth. It is tightly-knit and more linear compared to recent vintages, nowhere near a flamboyant RSV with an attractive piquant finish. This is a very good if not stunning Romanée-Saint-Vivant, not quite the stellar showing from other domaines.