4 decades of Romanee Saint Vivant

18 Jan 2013: To celebrate Richard's birthday, Richard and I hosted a wine dinner with the theme: 4 decades of Romanée Saint Vivant.  The organisation took quite a bit of effort as we wanted to limit ourselves to no more than 16 different wines, and we wanted to ensure there would be some connection within each flight so that we could make some interesting comparisons.In the end we came up with the following 4 flights:

Flight 1:
2002 Romanée Saint Vivant, Sylvain Cathiard
Medium ruby core. A very expressive bouquet of red and black fruit, layered with Vosne spice and violet notes.  The palate was initially a little closed and took a bit a little aeration to reveal the explosively aromatic and pure notes.   There is tremendous depth and intensity here - there is richness but without the weight. Finishes long.  A very elegant wine that has just come into its drinking window.  18.5/20

2002 Romanée Saint Vivant, Jean-Jacques Confuron
The nose is more floral here - lovely violet notes.  Compared to the Sylvain Cathiard, the underlying material seems less ripe.  More marked acidity.  The structure of the wine seems a little loose when compared to the Cathiard. 17/20

2001 Romanée Saint Vivant, Sylvain Cathiard
Quite a reductive nose initially.  Lower acidity than the 2002 vintage and the more astringent tannin has yet to resolve itself.  There is not the same class, richness nor structure as the 2002. 17.5/20 

2000 Romanée Saint Vivant, de l'Arlot
Already very open.  There is lovely red fruit purity, complemented by dried rose petals, leather and tea leaves, with some savoury character.  Silky tannin. Lovely sweet finish. This wine needs drinking now. 17/20

Flight 2:
1993 Romanée Saint Vivant, Joseph Drouhin
This exudes the class of Drouhin wines: elegance and precision, delivered with its hallmark understatement.  A mature but more subtle bouquet of coffee, earthy, tea and leather notes, layered with spicy black fruit.  Mid weight palate, with a rather linear structure of fine acidity and precise balance.  A very stylish wine.   Just a little drying on the finish.   17.5/20

1993 Romanée Saint Vivant, Hudelot-Noellat
Medium garnet core. A very evolved and funky nose, with coffee, leather, earthy, smokey and manure notes, with caramel and toffee nuances.  Some sweetness on the rather short astringent finish.  This bottle is past its best. 15.5/20   

1993 Romanée Saint Vivant, Robert Arnoux
Quite a seductive and complex bouquet still flaunting some of the sweet oaky aromas of vanilla and sweet spice, with leather, game, coffee, tea, cloves and nutmeg notes framing the spicy black fruit.  Silky tannin sets off the nicely balanced weight and richness on the palate, with a lingering finish.  Absolutely gorgeous now.  18/20

1993 Romanée Saint Vivant, Leroy
The embodiment of elegance and finesse, delivered with power and depth.  Very dark fruit, almost compote like, mocha, pot pourri, herbal, slightly stemmy and pot pourri.  A rich and insanely delicious wine that is drinking so well now, with a very long finish, which is just showing a hint of dryness. A wine of sheer class. 18.5/20

Flight 3:
1992 Romanée Saint Vivant, Leroy
(This bottle was recently purchased directly ex domaine).  We were all amazed by how well this tasted given the not so favourable vintage.  Black fruit and liquorice notes on the nose.  Very concentrated flavours for the vintage, if a little straightforward and lacking in precision.  Delicious now!  17.5/20

1991 Romanée Saint Vivant, Leroy
This is much more linear and precise than the 1992 vintage. Very attractive aromatically, with notes of black fruit, spice, coffee, earthy and a hint of vegetal notes.  Beautifully balanced, with the hallmark concentration and power, and lots of fine complex detail.  Very lovely juice that is drinking perfectly now.  18.5/20 

1990 Romanée Saint Vivant, Leroy
This is big and brooding today.  A beautifully complex and intense nose of black fruit, liquorice and nutmeg, showing no signs of tertiary development yet.  Plenty of vigour, richness, power and concentration on the still relatively closed palate.  Patience is required for this wine - I think it will be stunning.   19/20

1990 Romanée Saint Vivant, Domaine de la Romanée Conti
This too is showing a robust muscular structure but more open than the Leroy.  Black fruit, black tea leaves, violet and nutmeg.  The balance and harmony are superb here, presented in a most refined and elegant frame.  There is richness but without the weight of the Leroy wine.  Sensational effort. 19/20   

Flight 4:
1985 Romanée Saint Vivant, Robert Arnoux
A mature nose of game, truffle and earth, still layered with red and black fruit notes. Wonderful harmony here but somehow lacking in freshness and vigour.  The acidity is lower and there is a drying finish.   A very pleasant drink now with food, but does require drinking up!  17.5/20

1978 Romanée Saint Vivant, Domaine de la Romanée Conti
Another funky and very mature nose marked by mushroom, game, prune and caramel notes.  Quite supple on the palate, delivering much richness and depth, but just lacking a little in energy and freshness. Finishes long.  A wine that probably saw much better days - for me this bottle seems to be past its peak.  17/20

1964 Romanée Saint Vivant, Marey-Monge
Sadly heavily madeirised.
1962 Romanée Saint Vivant, Marey-Monge
Not in best condition - could be volatility, hint of mustiness (slight cork taint)?  A little bland on palate.

We did take a vote in the end to see which were the two best wines and the majority of us picked the 1993 Leroy as the best wine, with a few going for 1978 DRC and me 1990 Leroy.  As for the second best wine, there were equal votes for 1978 DRC, 1993 Leroy and 1990 DRC, with a lone vote for the 1993 Arnoux!

Despite two dud bottles, we did manage to have a most educational tasting, with lots of interesting comparisons.  Now I cannot wait to organise the Part 2 of this tasting with the other bottles that didn't make the cut this time!!!  (Richard and I tasted the 1990 Confuron recently and it was sensational....beautifully integrated, harmonious, with a finish that goes on forever....19/20)