2017 Richebourg

The 2017 Richebourg Grand Cru soars from the glass with a lovely bouquet of raspberries, black plums and blood orange, mingled with dark chocolate, smoked meats, rose petals and exotic spices. On the palate, it's full-bodied, rich and enveloping, with a fleshy and layered core of ripe, concentrated fruit, lively acids and a long, gourmand finish.

The 2017 Richebourg Grand Cru has a beautiful bouquet, very succinct and understated for a Richebourg and oh so precise. The palate is medium-bodied with strict tannin, a pinch of black pepper and bay leaf, and much more vibrant toward the finely structured finish. This is masculine and introspective, a Richebourg that will require considerable aging. At least at this stage, I feel the Romanée-Saint-Vivant has more charm and complexity.

An exotic and ultra-spicy nose features notes of plum, violet, orange pekoe tea, sandalwood, anise and an interesting hint of clove. The intense, muscular and driving large-scaled flavors possess unusually good concentration in the context of the 2017 vintage while exhibiting an almost pungent minerality on the austere, backward and very tightly wound finish that just goes on and on. This built to age effort is already a knock out and if it can add even more depth with time in bottle, it could potentially be brilliant.