The most backward cuvée in the cellar when I visited was the 2018 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, a rich and muscular wine that unwinds to reveal notions of cherries, cassis and berries mingled with nuances of exotic spice and new oak. On the palate, it's full-bodied, fleshy and structured, with refined but youthfully assertive tannins. A wine of considerable presence, this will need its remaining élevage to round out, but it's very promising.

The 2018 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru has a very ripe and generous bouquet with ravishing dark cherry, boysenberry and cranberry fruit, sous-bois and peppermint, garrigues-like scents emerging with time. This feels very cohesive. The palate is medium-bodied with a sweet, slightly candied entry and fine acidity. Quite sweet in the mouth and maybe just missing the complexity of the 2019 on the finish that just shows a little heat, hence my lower score. Tasted at the Domaine de L’Arlot tasting at La Cabotte in London.