2016 Romanee St Vivant
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The 2016 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru has plenty of fruit on the nose, although I feel that the previous vintage has a little more delineation. But it does open beautifully in the glass with scents of pressed iris and a touch of cassis. The palate is very well balanced with pliant tannins and a fine bead of acidity. Fresh and taut with a judicious touch of white pepper and sage towards the satin-textured finish. Gorgeous. Tasted at the Domaine de L’Arlot tasting at La Cabotte in London.
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Neal Martin
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Romanée Saint Vivant Grand Cru has a suave and seductive bouquet: plenty of quite lush black cherry and mulberry fruit, well-defined with impressive precision. The palate is medium-bodied with a sharp, slightly hard entry that suggests, perhaps, a little too much extraction. There is a lot of substance to this wine, almost Richebourg-like in structure towards the finish. All it is missing is some warmth and charm, but that should manifest with time. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.
(vinified with 100% whole clusters in a new wood tank and then aged in one-third each one-, two- and three-year-old barrels): Bright ruby-red. Wild aromas of boysenberry, cassis, violet, coffee and cocoa powder. Intensely flavored and sappy but very tightly wound, conveying a strong impression of structure to its slightly tart flavors of cranberry and flowers. This big boy is going to require extended cellaring to absorb its serious tannins. I may be underestimating its potential today.