Romanée Saint Vivant, Domaine Hudelot-Noellat 2016

I had not tasted the 2016 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru since it was in barrel, and it is showing brilliantly, unfurling in the glass with notes of cassis, wild berries, espresso roast, dark chocolate, exotic spices, rose petals and violets. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with refined tannins, a lively spine of acidity and striking depth and dimension. This is a magical Romanée-Saint-Vivant that matches or surpasses the 2015 rendition.

Here there is no reductive funk as the nose offers up notably spicy aromas of black cherry, cassis, Asian-style tea and a whiff of herbal tea. I very much like the intensity of the sleek middle weight flavors that are more muscular than they usually are while delivering excellent length on the backward finish. This is also more structured than it usually is, indeed it's borderline chewy, and is going to require extended keeping if you wish to see it at its peak.

The 2016 Romanée Saint-Vivant Grand Cru was the last one to finish its malolactic this year. It has a very pure and focused bouquet, the Malconsorts plus one if you like, sporting outstanding mineralité and tension. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, slightly chalky tannin, conveying plenty of energy and tension, quite sharp in the mouth with a fine bead of acidity and a sustained finish. The plus sign indicates that I am conservative with my score given the late malolactic and it would not surprise me if it steps up a level once in bottle.