2014 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Richebourg Grand Cru

The 2014 Richebourg Grand Cru has an exquisite bouquet with wonderful transparency and Pinoté , displaying vivid red cherries and crushed strawberry fruit, lively and tensile. The palate is medium-bodied with plenty of energy right from the start. It boasts finely tuned tannins, none of the greenness that afflicts some of its peers, with real nerve and structure towards the finish that fans out with elan. Classy and riveting, this punches above expectations. Tasted at the Richebourg vertical dinner in Taipei.

Full, deep red. Wonderfully sappy, floral nose shows more red fruits than black, along with complementary oak spices. Tactile, salty and sharply delineated, conveying outstanding lift to its classically dry flavors of red berries and spices. Obviously a very young wine and yet there's nothing brutal about it even today; in fact, this is more harmonious in the early going than the RSV. The very long, broad, slowly rising finish really saturates the palate and resounds with sappy spices.

Dark cherry; lighter colour than the Romanée St-Vivant. Sweet, spicy nose. Very charming and packed full of fruit. One of the more accessible but less dense of the DRC family. Perhaps it will take on density in bottle but it is already opulently scented. Fruit is on the sweet side. A charmer rather than being very concentrated. (JR)

Lightish garnet, very similar to the Romanée St-Vivant in colour. Very bright fruit here, very lively aroma. So expressive and fruity on the nose – more like the Corton in this respect. Red fruited, almost a little floral, gradually releasing a hint of baking spice but there’s more savoury spice too. Delicate note of stems. Wow, this is dramatically expressive on the palate, full of bright fresh fruit and great energy. So expressive already on the palate, the tannins leaving the centre stage for the red fruit even though they provide the platform. This is perhaps a little leaner and more stemmy than the Romanée St-Vivant but the balance is impeccable. Just a little more austere overall even with all that energy. More of a whippet than a racehorse. (JH)