The 1995 Romanée-St-Vivant Grand Cru is beginning to drink beautifully, wafting from the glass with a rich bouquet of sweet red berries, warm spices, mossy forest floor and peony. Full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it's surprisingly tender and charming for a 1995, with fine mid-palate amplitude, melting tannins and a long, expansive finish.

Pale+ ruby colour with a touch of brick. The nose is a little mute to begin but with some coaxing opens to an even more perfumed style. Enticing aromas of warm strawberries are scented with potpourri, wilted roses, cloves, cassia and white pepper. The wine fills the mouth with a good intensity of earthy / spicy flavours, nicely balanced by a high backbone of acidity and a medium level of very finely grained tannins. Very long finish with lingering notes of pepper and minerals.

Very good dark red. Higher-pitched spice and earth nose, complicated by exotic smoky-oak tones. Riper and silkier in the mouth, but given shape and firmness by a mineral underpinning. Finishes with substantial tongue-dusting tannins and a hint of caramel oak.

Why is it that I can be so thrilled with the bouquet of many Romanee St.-Vivants and then disappointed with their flavor profile? The DRC's offering exhibits gorgeously elegant aromas of flowers, spice, herb and berries and deliciously chewy flavors of minerals, cherries and roses embedded in its silky texture. The wine's aromatics suggest one of the best wines of the vintage. When tasted, it revealed itself to be an excellent to outstanding wine without the necessary inner-core to reach the heights of greatness. It should be cellared for 4-5 years, yet will hold until 2010., This note is the result of tastings I did in Burgundy between January 7 and January 29. The wine was tasted from cask, not bottle. Pinot Noir, a fragile varietal, reacts poorly to fining, filtration, and careless bottling techniques, I recommend caution when considering buying a red burgundy based on cask samples. I called it as I tasted it, and hope the bottled wine reflects the quality of the samples I was provided. Drc wines are not subjected to any filtration or fining and undergo only one racking. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661.

More pallid than Echezeaux. A wonderful floral nose - quite feminine, quite exquisite. However somewhat disappointed with the palate, lacking the concentration that I expected. Balanced, stylish but it lacks the explosion of fruit that other vintages display. An excellent wine but not amazing. Tasted February 1998.

Marey Monge on the label. Pale to mid ruby. A little chewy still but very vigorous and dense, Smoother and more confident than the Leroy RSV 1995. Slightly drying tannins on the end at first but then in the glass it opened up to be beautifully sweet, round and jewelly. Very lively and in the end very impressive. (JR)