Winemaker Notes
The wine reveals a magnificent bouquet of black cherries, hints of iodine, violets, rose, and peony, complemented by precise and delicate tannins on the palate. Rich, harmonious, and full of charm, it is long, fine, and powerful. This legendary red pairs beautifully with fillet of beef with truffle sauce, pressed duck, or chicken with ceps, and in autumn, hare à la royale makes an exceptional match, offering inspiration for a range of flavorful pairings.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This wine exudes the finesse and class of this grand cru. Aromas of blue and red fruit, flowers and stony minerality with a savory undertone coming form a hint of reduction. The palate is seamlessly integrated, with silky tannins and a textural, silky mouthfeel. This is everything you could expect and more from the 2023 vintage. Truly excellent.
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Jasper Morris
A medium deep ruby crimson colour. The fruit takes a little coaxing but there is evidently plenty waiting to emerge. The ripeness is slightly more evident here in the darker fruit profile, heading towards black raspberry, but the wine is by no means too ripe. There remains a crispness to the structure and finish. Understated in the Arlot style, but fine. This should build in bottle, to add volume of fruit to its undoubted purity. Barrel Sample: 94-96
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Vinous
The 2023 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru has a gorgeous bouquet that blossoms in the glass. Dark cherries, touches of violet and iodine just soar with aeration—wonderfully delineated. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins and a killer line of acidity, very harmonious through the linear and poised finish. This is quite understated for an RSV. Lovely.
Barrel Sample: 94-96
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
This is the village for the most die-hard Burgundy fanatics. Vosne-Romanée has for many hundreds of years been the source of the most sought-after Pinot Noir in Burgundy. The village claims six Grands Crus—and some of the most famous at that—but in other villages where owners manage tiny parcels or a few rows of any one vineyard, monopolies dominate the Grands Crus of Vosne-Romanee.
Of these monopolies, Domaine Romanee-Conti (DRC) reigns supreme, claiming not only more total vineyard area than any other producer, but outright owning the entirety of two of the Grands Crus and a majority of two others. In its full possession are naturally Romanée-Conti, as well as La Tâche. DRC also owns most of Richebourg and Romanée-St-Vivant. The final two, La Grande Rue and La Romanée are completely owned by other other produers: François Lamarche and Comte Liger Belair, respectively.
While one could spend a lifetime on the puzzles of land ownership in Burgundy, the point is that Vosne-Romanee contains the most valuable pieces of vineyard real estate in the world. Pinot Noir from any of its vineyards—especially from within its 27ha of Grand Cru or 58 ha of Premier Cru land—is going to rank among the best.
The most outstanding wines from this village have everything: finesse and elegance coupled with the body and sturdiness for incredibly long aging ability. They are intensely floral and exotically spiced. Beautifully ripe, complex and ephemeral throughout, they are robust, yet fine-grained in texture. These wines will stay gorgeous for the long haul.