1998 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Romanee-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru, Marey-Monge

A beautifully spicy nose is finally beginning to open to reveal wonderfully complex and spicy aromatics and fruit that is still 100% primary. The medium full, rich, spicy and intense flavors possess ripe tannins underpinning the considerable structural spine and it's clear that this will definitely require another 7 to 10 years in the cellar.

Saturated ruby-red. Sappy, rather wild aromas of raspberry, smoke, tar and mulch; more deeply pitched than the Grands-Echezeaux but still quite tangy. Fat, sweet and full, but less precise and lively than the Grands-Echezeaux; flavors of redcurrant and iron. Fairly rich wine, finishing with good breadth and dusty, slightly dry tannins. I'd be a bit more optimistic about the ultimate potential of this wine if it were more primary today.