2008 Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru

Medium red. Musky, soil-driven aromas of mocha, licorice, spices, soy sauce and flowers. Sweet, plush, rich and very ripe, but with plenty of energy to the cocoa powder, loam and spice flavors. The impressive, slowly building finish shows a distinctly saline character and a positive dryness. A fascinating wine of terroir , in need of patience.

The '08 RSV displays a pure, highly spiced and expressive nose where the fruit runs more to the red side of the spectrum with hints of plum and violets that marry into refined, focused and precise medium full-bodied flavors that are utterly seductive as there is a beguiling succulence to the textured and gorgeously long finish that tightens up quickly as the ripe tannins make their presence felt. This will need time and it is a very impressive and stylish effort.

Good full medium red. Highly nuanced, slightly reduced nose combines raspberry, plum, smoky minerality and subtle earth tones. Sweet, silky and wonderfully rich but with lovely inner-palate verve to the flavors of fruits, minerals and spices. For all its lushness this has the spine of the vintage. Not at all overly sweet on the finish of this rather backward wine, with substantial tannins nicely buffered by mid-palate material.