Alain Hudelot-Noellat Romanee St Vivant Grand Cru

2015

Burghound 93-95: This is both more elegant but also more restrained with its cool red cherry, sandalwood, tea and various floral scents. The lilting, silky and pure middle weight flavors possess a gorgeously refined mouth feel as the supporting tannins are dense but notably fine-grained on the beautifully focused, balanced and lingering finish. This will be approachable young but age quite well too.

Wine Advocate 96: The 2015 Romanée Saint-Vivant Grand Cru from Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat is exceptional, bursting from the glass with notes of cherries, wild berries, exotic spice, dried flowers and orange rind. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, concentrated and authoritative, built around a bright line of acidity and a fine-grained chassis of satiny tannins. The finish is long, fragrant and racy.

Vinous 95: Full, bright red. Alluring aromas of black cherry, raspberry, cocoa powder, licorice and violet hint at the exotic side of the vintage. Wonderfully silky-sweet on the palate, but with its plush, seamless texture given shape by surprising harmonious acidity. This is deceptively accessible today owing to its sheer sucrosité and pliancy, and its utterly suave tannins, but the extremely long finish shows an exhilarating sappiness that suggests this wine will evolve slowly and gracefully in bottle.

2023

Burghound 92-95: Here the elegant nose is cool, airy and beautifully layered with its essence of red cherry, violet, Asian-style tea and hoisin scents. The lacy, even silky, textured middle weight flavors are shaped by wonderfully fine-grained tannins on the moderately austere, balanced and impressively long finale. This does need to develop better depth but that should simply be a matter of exercising some patience.

Wine Advocate 93-95: The 2023 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru is deep and structured, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, burning embers, orange zest, petals and exotic spices. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, with a dense core of fruit framed by powdery structuring tannins, even in this vintage it will demand a little patience.

Vinous 96-98: The 2023 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru was the last cuvée to finish its malo. This has a compelling mineral-driven bouquet with intense red berry fruit, razor-sharp delineation and poise. It's perhaps a level-up from the previous vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with a plush entry. It's velvety smooth in texture, with a patina of oak to be subsumed, but there is plenty of weight on the finish and a wonderful peppery aftertaste. It's one of the more powerful wines from the domaine, but it will give many years of pleasure. This is fabulous.