Wine Advisor
Alain Hudelot Noellat, Romanee St Vivant Grand Cru 2018
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru has a very candied, aniseed-tinged bouquet that contains impressive intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins, lovely orange-zest infused red fruit, gentle but insistent grip with an arresting, white pepper/spicy finish that leaves the tongue tingling. Impressive and delicious, though it will need cellaring. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru needs some encouragement from the glass but rewards the effort with wonderful pure dark cherry, bergamot, rose petal and vanilla pod aromas that gather pace with aeration. The harmonious palate is beautifully balanced with ripe succulent tannins and gentle grip. Gorgeous licorice-tinged black fruit here, and a very persistent finish. This is a superb Romanée-Saint-Vivant fulfilling its potential from barrel.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, matured in 50% new oak like all the domaine’s grand crus, has a tightly wound bouquet of black cherries, raspberry coulis and touches of bergamot tea and briar. Lovely definition, but bashful at this early stage. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a fine bead of acidity and a smooth texture. There is not enormous depth of grip to this RSV, though it has a spring in its step on the persistent finish.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2018 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru reveals a lovely bouquet of rose petals, wild berries, exotic spices and rich soil tones. This is followed by a full-bodied, deep and multidimensional palate that's concentrated and serious, built around exquisitely refined but abundant tannins, concluding with a long and expansive finish.
About the Producer
In 1962, Alain inherited two small parcels of his father's Chambolle-Musigny Grand Cru Les Chames, plus several vineyards from his marriage to the great-granddaughter of Charles Noellat, a Vosne-Romanee winery family, and he established Domaine Alain Hudelot Noellat. The winery is now about 10 hectares (24 hectares) in size. The estate now has about 10 hectares (24 acres) of vineyards with an average age of over 50 years, including several dating back to 1920, including the vineyard at Romanée-Saint-Vivant. The winery is known for its lighter wines with nuanced and natural flavors. Now managed by third-generation grandson Charles van Canneyts, Hudelot-Nollat is not so different from its grandfather's time, when it was less visible in the thicker wines, but now it has the advantage of refinement, often with fresh, bright fruit, balanced acidity and silky tannins. The vinification is entirely de-stemmed, using local yeasts that are not comparable to artificial yeasts, with a relatively long pre-fermentation cold soak, mainly with trampled skins, and 18 months in new barrels at 20-60%. In 2012, Charles also started to buy grapes from other winegrowers under his own name to make his wine. Vosne-Romanee is a blend of three first growths, Suchots, Beaumonts and Malconsorts, and as young as it is, the Hudelot-Noellat family owns three first growths that are over 100 years old, so this VR is ostensibly a village wine, but with a first growth heritage. Jasper Morris MW has high praise for Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat. He believes that while Alain Hudelot's management has produced fine style reds, Charles van Canneyt has taken over and given the wines more concentration and backbone, retaining their elegance, but with more ageing potential and balance.
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