1996 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Saint-Vivant Marey Monge***
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Tasting notes
The 1996 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru puts in a splendid performance. Quite deep in colour (like many Pinots this vintage), it has a bewitching and precise bouquet with dark cherries, crushed stone, iris and oyster shells, gaining more and more delineation as it opens in the glass. The palate is very focused, fresh and vibrant, hints of Earl Grey infusing the red fruit and silky smooth in texture. It displays the femininity of this vineyard, precise and shimmering with energy on the finish. This is a great showing and yet one can tell it has another two or three decades of pleasure to give. Tasted over dinner at Oswald's in London.
Critic scores
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
The 1996 Romanée Saint-Vivant Grand Cru continues to be an absolutely delightful wine from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and puts to rest memories of a sub-par bottle tasted blind several years ago. Now two decades old, it retains a healthy color with little sign of ageing. The bouquet is fresh and vital, angular at first yet seeming to gain harmony with each swirl of the glass. It is not intense, but prioritizes clarity and tension over power. Dark berry fruit emerge first, briary and Vervain tea, an underlying mineralité eventually coming forth. The palate is very well balanced, quite linear and certainly not flamboyant or flattering. It makes you, the taster, work to seek out its nuances, its energy and refinement. Hints of black cherry intermingle with a marine-like undertow that governs that finish. It does not posses huge depth and I think Aubert de Villaine makes a more sophisticated wine nowadays, but it remains a joy. Tasted September 2016.
Crimson with smudgy rim. The particularly complex nose comes in a cloud. As though rich, ripe Pinot just rubbed itself over the palate! Actually very youthful with marked fine tannins but no excess of acidity. Lots of zest and life – really racy. Such a fine filigree texture. (JR)
About the producer
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti or simply “DRC” is without doubt the most famous domaine in Burgundy and one of the most famous producers on earth. The Grand Cru vineyard from which it takes its name produces the world’s most expensive wine by a long margin.