2007 Romanée-St-Vivant, Grand Cru, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Burgundy

Exuberant and bright on the nose. It smells cooler, though all the samples are at the same temperature. The slightest touch of white pepper. Tightly furled on the palate, very fresh and no fat but not lean either. Tannins are fine and upright. It is less playful on the palate than on the nose, more like an athlete limbering up even though the mid-palate is already scented.

Drink 2017 - 2030 

Medium red. Precise aromas of violet, cocoa powder, smoky oak, and earth emerge with aeration, with red berries emerging with aeration. Tighter in the middle palate than the Grands-Echezeaux, this shows somewhat cooler, soil-driven flavours and a sexy dusty minerality, but it still boasts impressive breadth and fat. Finishes classically dry and extremely long, with building tannins. It's an exciting wine in the making, but austere today, it needs a decade of patience.

There is a wonderful sense of transparency on the nose here: raspberry leafy, chalky elements coming through, dried autumn leaves and a dewy morning lawn. There are fewer herbaceous elements here than on other crus. The palate displays a supple entry, quite understated initially but certainly expanding in the glass—a very fine backbone. The bottle in November at the domaine was leafier, but four months later, it has a lovely rounded, silky finish with pure red cherries, raspberry and wild strawberry struck through with wonderful minerality. This is fare prettier and more alluring that the Richebourg at this stage.

A maturing, ultra-elegant, pure, and quite delicately fruited nose is exceptionally spicy and floral. The refined and seductively textured, detailed and delineated middle weight flavours possess laser-like focus on the energetic, complex and strikingly long finish. This is an unqualified success for the 2007 vintage, and I was seriously impressed with its overall sense of harmony, grace and class. Note that this is already drinking well, though I would be inclined to hold it for a few more years first. I have also tasted this on several occasions since it was released with nary a poor bottle.

Drink 2027

From the majestic 5.29ha holding of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti purchased from the Marey-Monge family in 1988 and replanted in the 1990s.

Tasted recently, the 2007 was forward and accessible, with a pronounced floral cast to the high-toned pomegranate and cranberry fruit character. The nose is still fairly primary in nature, but it is starting to show just a bit of earthy, smoky evolution. There is still plenty of grip on the palate, with firm tannins, fresh acidity and enough extract to carry this wine the distance.

Drink 2021 - 2041