Broader-shouldered and ampler than the Romanée-St-Vivant, the 2016 Richebourg Grand Cru unfurls in the glass with a lavish bouquet of cassis, dark plums, candied peel, potpourri, Asian spices, peonies and smoked duck. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, rich and expansive, with considerable depth and dimension at the core, and a gourmand, almost fleshy profile that marries beautifully with its cool, precise fruit tones and its velvety structuring tannins. This is a superb Richerbourg that to my palate surpasses the 2015 rendition.

The 2016 Richebourg Grand Cru was picked on 23 and 24 September at 24 hectoliters per hectare. It has a dense, almost saturnine bouquet at first that demands plenty of encouragement from the glass. Interestingly, the stem addition comes through a little more strongly than the Romanée-Saint-Vivant at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with an arching structure from start to finish. There is autumnal black fruit that feel comparatively tertiary to other vintages, beautifully focused and unquestionably tensile toward the sustained finish. Superb.

(24 hectoliters per hectare): Dark red-ruby color. Medicinal black cherry, blackberry, violet, lavender, sandalwood and crushed rock on the nose. Then wonderfully silky and spherical in the mouth but firm as well, conveying a distinctly suave impression for all its concentration. Flavors of dark fruits, coffee, flowers and spices saturate the entire palate. In its texture and length, this sample reminded me a bit of the 2015 version--and it's more elegant and less chewy and rough than the 2016 Echézeaux or Grands-Echézeaux.