2016 Romanee St Vivant
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Tasting notes
The 2016 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru is youthfully reticent, but the wine unwinds in the glass to reveal a stunning bouquet of violet, rose petal, dark berries, baking chocolate, candied peel and smoked duck. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a deep, multidimensional but tight-knit core that largely conceals its rich tannic chassis, bright balancing acids and a long, fragrant finish. This is a beautiful wine, built for the long haul, and it numbers among the best bottles that the young Charles Lachaux has produced to date.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru comes from the domaine's 0.35-ha parcel owned since 1984. It is deeper in colour than the Latricières with scents of blackberry, briary, raspberry preserve and incense, almost Richebourg-like in style. The palate is replete with sappy black fruit, again, the structure not a million miles away from a Richebourg with grip and density on the finish. Serious and long-term.
Healthy dark red. At once darker and higher-pitched on the nose than the Reignots, offering scents of black raspberry, wild herbs and violet. Very pure and clean on the palate, showing excellent definition and cut but also a distinctly smooth texture to its dense dark berry flavors. Nothing rustic about this beauty! The very slowly mounting finish caresses the palate and spreads out horizontally without leaving any impression of weight. This wine boasts a small-yield density and thickness without any loss of delineation; it should evolve beautifully in the cellar.