Richebourg, Thibault Liger Belair 2016

A strikingly floral-suffused and perfumed nose offers up a mix of violet, lavender and rose petal that adds elegance to the panoply of spicy dark fruit aromas. There is an almost painful intensity to the beautifully well-detailed big-bodied and superbly mineral-driven flavors that possess a gorgeous mouthfeel, indeed the mid-palate is almost lacy, that gives way to a wall of tannin on the serious, powerful and breathtakingly long finish. This stunner of a Richebourg is also going to require extended keeping as it's very, very tightly wound today.

The 2016 Richebourg Grand Cru includes 30% whole cluster fruit, the highest at the domaine ever, which Thibaut said combined all the elements of the vineyard together. There was just a slight reduction on the nose, though underneath lies intense blackberry and raspberry fruit, hints of truffle and cedar and then later subtle white flower scents. This seems to gather momentum in the glass, and it fans out beautifully on the regal finish. It will clearly require some time in bottle, so find a berth for this in your cellar and then forget about it. Not forever. Just say 8 to 10 years for it to show its pedigree.