Domaine de la Romanée Conti, Romanee St Vivant Grand Cru 2009

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: William Kelley

This bottle of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti's 2009 Romanée-St-Vivant Grand Cru was quite reserved, opening in the glass with notes of raspberries and cherries complemented by hints of rose petal, cinnamon and coniferous forest floor. Medium to full-bodied and fleshy but a little introverted, it's girdled by juicy acids and underpinned by powdery tannins, concluding with a long and fragrant finish. Compared to the sheer expressiveness of the 2009 La Tâche, this was surprisingly introverted, though of course that may well have been simply the particular bottle or the day on which I encountered it.

robert_parker97

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2009 Romanee St.Vivant is wonderfully complete. The combination of power and elegance is breathtaking as layers of fruit flow across the palate in stunning style. Hard candy, flowers, mint and dark red berries build to the dramatic, explosive finish. In 2009 the Romanee St. Vivant is a wine of considerable volume and textural depth, but it will require a good many years for those qualities to come through fully. Anticipated maturity: 2024-2049. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti’s 2009s have turned out just asbrilliantly as I had hoped. The wines reflect the signature qualities of the year, but never lose their essential classicism. Long-time DRC fans know the domaine bottles in six-barrel lots, which naturally introduces a level of bottle variation that is not found in most other wines. I hope the massive amount of information that has recently come to light regarding counterfeit wines and their proliferation might be the catalyst for the domaine to consider bottling their wines in one homogenous lot, as is common for the vast majority of high-quality wines throughout the world. Once the domaine’s wines mature in 20-30 years it will be impossible to tell the difference between ‘normal’ bottle variation, poorly stored bottles and very good fakes. Certainly consumers who are willing and able to pay the prices these wines fetch are at the very least deserving of a consistent product. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661