2017 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Romanee-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, Marey-Monge

A total stunner, the 2017 Romanée St. Vivant Grand Cru is the most expressive wine in the lineup today. Rich, creamy and so wonderfully textured, the RSV simply has it all. The tannins are present, but they are also matched by tremendous fruit density and pure power. Floral and savory overtones grace the lifted, saline finish. Leaving price aside, if I could only have one wine in this range, it would unquestionably be the RSV. The 2017 is a total knock-out. That’s all there is to it. This fruit was picked on September 10 and 11.

The 2017 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, picked on September 10 and 11, has a heavenly extraordinarily pure bouquet of small red cherries, crushed strawberry, briar and hints of wet limestone, all beautifully defined and focused. The palate is defined by its filigreed tannin, awe-inspiring harmony and poise and start-to-finish tension. This is one of the most vibrant Romanée-Saint-Vivants I have tasted from barrel, and it has a supremely long, minerally aftertaste. This is just a beautiful, quite mesmerizing wine.

The 2017 Romanée-St-Vivant Grand Cru was also showing very well indeed, soaring from the glass with scents of cassis, violets, blood orange, cinnamon and espresso roast that are complemented by carnal nuances of smoked duck and musk. On the palate, it's full-bodied, multidimensional and enveloping, with terrific concentration, rich and powdery structuring tannins and a long, saline finish. This is a dramatic, head-turning Romanée-St-Vivant in the making, and it is showing even better in bottle than it did from barrel.

Pale garnet. Very wild and aromatic. Lively and fresh. Even more transparent than the Richebourg. Racy and actually in a blind tasting this might be easy to miss as it doesn’t have the obvious concentration one associates with the Domaine. Very C21! Very dry, even a little hard on the end. I’m sure it will be fabulous but it’s not as showy as some today. 1,693 cases (JR)