Richebourg, Domaine Hudelot-Noellat 2017

The comparison between this and the Romanée St Vivant is fascinating. Fresh full purple, the nose is rather hidden but suggests a greater depth to the fruit when coaxed out. There is clearly much more structure to this, much more weight behind, with both red and black fruit, better acidity, less sucrosity, and an equally great finish. Stricter and finer than the RSV. How to decide between them? A question of style perhaps. Tasted: November 2018.

The 2017 Richebourg from Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat is also a stunning wine, showing a beautifully elegant vintage veneer to its aromatic constellation of red and black cherries, plums, chocolate, gamebird, a nice base of soil tones, violets and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, long and quite soil-driven for a young Richebourg, with a sappy core of fruit, ripe, seamless tannins and a long, vibrant and energetic finish. This too is just stellar. Drink between 2030-2100