Alain Hudelot-Noellat, Romanee-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru 2014

I knew that the 2014 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru would be great when I tasted it from barrel last year...but not this great. It has a wonderful, tensile bouquet that just seems to sparkle. The fruit is so crystalline and laden with energy and mineralité that you almost have to sit down! The palate is surfeit with energy, the fruit perhaps a little darker than in barrel with white pepper, spices towards the almost Richebourg-like finish. Tasting them side-by-side, I would err for this over the Richebourg - it is a magnificent wine from Charles van Canneyt.

Deep, dark red. Brooding, youthfully medicinal aromas of red cherry, dark berries, mocha and cocoa powder. Dense and tactile, with dark cherry, raspberry and spice flavors showing enough sweetness to support the wine's salty minerality. Finishes sappy, energetic, precise and very long, with substantial ripe tannins in need of cellaring.