2005 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Romanee-Saint Vivant Grand Cru

BH97 An incredibly perfumed and supremely elegant if notably ripe nose features notes of various black fruit scents that are replete with soy, hoisin, clove and anise nuances. There is outstanding power and richness to the refined, detailed and still quite firmly structured flavors that culminate in a precise, pure and driving finish that goes on and on. This is a really impressive effort that offers terrific potential but fans of this wine should note that it is arguably more masculine than it usually is yet at the same time utterly seamless. In sum this is arguably the finest RSV that the Domaine has ever produced though one that is indisputably going to require extended aging. Tasted twice in 2019 with similar notes

WA96-97 Just as this year’s Echezeaux challenges the quality of the Grands-Echezeaux, another surprise of the vintage is a spectacular showing for the 2005 Romanee-St.-Vivant. A startlingly dark, mouth-watering amalgam of purple plum paste, blackberry preserves, bitter chocolate, toasted walnut, soy, and raw beef intrigues the nose. On the palate, this cleaves to the dark side, with viscous, mouth-coating concentration of lightly-cooked black fruits, charred meat, mysterious forest floor complexity, and bitter-sweet florality, but simultaneously delivers a vibratory finish like that of the energetic Grands-Echezeaux. With its palpable extract, profound personality, and refined but abundant tannins, this is surely wine to set aside for at least a decade.