2010 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Romanee-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, Marey-Monge 1x750ml

Vinous 95

Good bright, deep red. Highly nuanced aromas of strawberry, flowers, cocoa powder, mocha, smoke and earth. Sweet and seamless yet taut too, already displaying great personality to the flavors of red and darker fruits, salt, pepper and earth. Wonderfully soil-driven wine with a very sweet, very long finish featuring noble, fine-grained tannins and terrific sappy verve. Showing great charm today but it’s hard to imagine that this wine won’t shut down in the bottle. For his part, Aubert de Villaine describes vintage 2009 as "seduction" and 2010 as "the opposite of seduction." But today the high quality of these 2010s is plain to see, even if the top four bottlings here really call for 10 to 152 years of cellaring. [Stephen Tanzer, 01/03/2013]

Robert Parker 97

The Romanee St Vivant was picked slightly later than the Richebourg between 27th and 29th September and in recent years has seen a rapid amelioration in quality. The first impression on the nose is of purity and femininity: the crystalline red fruits wafting from the glass and seducing you without a moment’s hesitation. Leaving the sample for ten minutes, it unfurls and offers subtle scents of Italian cured meats, orange blossom and white peach. Close your eyes and you could almost imagine this being a serious white Grand Cru!! The palate is medium-bodied and armed with filigree tannins. It is so light on its feet on the entry that you barely notice the structure that is so tensile and lends this wine the symmetry of the Grands Echezeaux. The finish is lacy, refined, intense but not powerful. It constitutes one of the finest RSV’s that I have tasted at this early stage. Total production is 1,159 cases. Tasted January 2013. [Neal Martin, 01/01/2013]