Romanée Saint Vivant, Domaine Hudelot-Noellat 2010

A shy but gorgeously elegant and ultra-pure nose offers up a rich array of spice, floral and red berry liqueur aromas. The utterly seductive medium weight flavors possess a silky mouth feel and superb balance which in much the same fashion as the Beaux Monts is enhanced by the very fine grained tannins before culminating in an explosive, focused and strikingly long finish. This highly-sophisticated effort seems quite supple as the firm tannins are hidden by the abundant sap but make no mistake, this will require plenty of cellar time before it's completely ready.

The Romanée St Vivant has a pretty, understated bouquet with crisp red fruits, wild hedgerow and some fine "stemmy" notes. The palate is medium-bodied with a touch of spice on the entry. It has very fine tannins with a touch of sous-bois towards the beautiful arching structure on the finish. Superb. Tasted January 2012