Richebourg, Domaine de la Romanée Conti 1996

The 1996 Richebourg Grand Cru is drinking beautifully and might actually surpass La Tâche in this vintage; certainly, I have yet to drink a 1996 La Tâche as good as this particular bottle of Richebourg. Wafting from the glass with an inviting bouquet of plummy fruit mingled with wilted rose petals, peonies, exotic spices, orange rind and forest floor, it's full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, with none of the vintage's tendency toward asperity in evidence, exhibiting melting tannins and a seamless, velvety profile. This is really beginning to show well today.