Description
95 Points Allen Meadows
A more restrained and cooler nose reflects super-fresh and floral-inflected aromas of exceptionally spicy red and dark currant, violet, plum and tea. There is a highly refined mouthfeel to the almost lacy yet concentrated middle weight flavors that possess first-rate complexity on the balanced and wonderfully persistent if youthfully austere finish. This crunchy effort is class in a glass with its emphasis on finesse which is quite different from the evident power and punch of the Corton. Textbook built-to-age RSV.
95 Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2016 Romanée-St-Vivant Grand Cru is super, bursting from the glass with a kaleidoscopic bouquet of potpourri, red berries, cassis, peony and rose petal. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and fine-boned, with tangy acids, superb concentration and an ample chassis of powdery structuring tannins, concluding with a long, fragrant finish. This is a Romanée-St-Vivant that exemplifies the intensity without the weight that distinguishes the Domaine’s best wines, and it equals the fabulous 2015 rendition.
19/20 Jancis Robinson
Very slightly redder in colour than the Corton. It smells cooler too, with more whole-bunch freshness at first. Here it’s the fruit and herby freshness that sings and much less spice than on the Corton. Less exotic and more ‘Nordic’ in its purity. The fruit aroma and flavour is redder too, not strawberry but in that direction. The flavour is sweet on the palate even though the wine is bone dry and the sweetness is undercut by the effect of the very slight whole-bunch austerity. The tannins are incredibly fine but not yet smoothed out, adding to the extreme freshness and purity. Tightly wound, the fruit and woodland freshness go on and on. Odd as it may sound, it seems to get more dense in your mouth after it has gone.
