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

Good full red. Sexy perfume of plum, flowers, truffle and game. Wonderfully rich and sweet but with real verve to the flavors of red berries, minerals and wet earth. The highly aromatic, rising finish shows captivating soil complexity and energy. According to Aubert de Villaine, "the 2009s make you smile, like the '59s. They're charming wines but with plenty of structure."

Tasted out of barrel at the Domaine. Aubert de Villaine’s RSV has been the rising star of recent years. Here, it is very feminine on the nose with delicate touches of raspberry leaf, wild strawberry and subtle mineralite. The palate displays filigree tannins on the entry, perhaps a little more structured at this stage but then it atavistically reverts to its typical silky texture on its pellucid finish. Tasted November 2010.

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.

Dark ruby. Very rich and complete on the nose with great layers. Quite firm and ambitious on the palate. Great skein of structure with lots of really energetic fruit in the middle. Very firm and convincing for the long term. Great elegance as well as density. Very noble. More energetic than the Richebourg. (JR)