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.

Gentle at first, offering rose petal aromas, it turns quite savage and tough on the palate, with loads of fruit cloaked in the very firm tannin structure. The acidity is there, and the length is terrific, but it needs time. Best from 2006 through 2026.??–PM??Region: France / Burgundy / Romanée St.-Vivant Select to Add