2015 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Richebourg Grand Cru

The 2015 Richebourg Grand Cru was picked at 24.34hl/ha on 8 and 9 September. I fully agree with Aubert de Villaine who told me that the Richebourg vineyard has really stepped up a gear in recent years. This is very complex, profound even, a deep well of red berry fruit, crushed flowers, iris and wet loamy soil. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins that disguise the arching structured underneath. There is enormous depth and persistence to this Richebourg and yet the finish is balletic in poise with an extraordinarily persistence, slightly saline on the aftertaste. Magnificent. Tasted at Corney & Barrow’s annual in bottle tasting in London.

The 2015 Richebourg Grand Cru is very good indeed, offering up a pure and surprisingly expressive nose of strawberry, dried rose, plum preserve, roast squab, raw cocoa and incipient rich soil tones, framed by some nutty new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, multidimensional and rich, sweet fruit playing in counterpoint with sapid, savory nuance. This Richebourg is denser at the core and less expansive than the corresponding Romanée-St-Vivant, and though the grain of its tannins is similar, their impact is more assertive and muscular. Cropped at 24 hectoliters per hectare and harvested September 8 and 9.

(racked): Full dark red. Aromas of dark cherry, plum, mocha and earth are complemented by sexy oak spices and lifted by a floral element. Dense, plush and sweet; almost nectar-like and utterly seamless. For all its flesh and size, this thick wine conveys an impression of elegance. Really amazing sucrosité here and outstanding mounting length. But it's hard to believe that this normally backward cuvée won't shut down in bottle.

More notably stemmy than their others in this vintage, giving a soy, leaf and iodine character as well as spice and wood scents. An absolute belter, showing extraordinary fruit definition – cranberry, redcurrant, rhubarb – and pitch-perfect harmony on the finish. It’s the scent that stays with you, though – the unholy complexity of flavour that makes such wines so special. (RH)