Tasting Notes
Vinous 96
The 2012 Romanee-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru is a wine that I have not tasted since just after bottling. Three years on, it is clearly a class act. Lucid in colour, it has a captivating, exquisitely defined bouquet with that ethereal purity I remarked on previously. Cranberry and wild strawberry, freshly shucked oyster shells and brilliant focus. Maybe it has just tightened up in recent months. The palate is framed by precise tannin. This feels deep but light-footed and nimble, very focused with just the right amount of bitterness towards the finish. Just a beautiful wine that is just beginning to enter its stride. Tasted blind at 67 Pall Mall in London.
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2045
Robert Parker 96
The 2012 Romanee St Vivant, incidentally served before Richebourg rather than afterwards unlike previous years, was picked on September 28 and 29 at 24 hectoliters per hectare. There is a wondrous, ethereal purity to this 2012, a little more sumptuous than I recall it from barrel, with kirsch and freshly picked strawberries. As it opens, it gains more and more sensuality. The palate is rounded, almost curvaceous in the mouth, clearly more concentrated than the 2011 with a sense of authority and purpose, a bit of daring-do on the long finish. It leaves a slightly ferrous residue on the aftertaste, completing what is a marvelous and sensual Grand Cru. 1,148 cases produced.
Anticipated maturity: 2017-2045