Bright, full red. Restrained but very pure perfume of dark raspberry, black cherry, menthol, licorice and black pepper. Dense, silky and suave on entry, conveying a sexy sweetness to its juicy dark fruit, mineral and spice flavors. This wine struck me as comparatively feminine in style, but not for long, as it quickly went into a shell in the glass. Finishes very long, with firm-edged tannins, noteworthy saline complexity and superb precision. Bertrand de Villaine described this wine as "a bit chaotic" in the early going.

The 2014 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru has a nose that is so seductive that even at this juncture you feel the urge to run off and elope hand in hand. Very pure, very charming, wonderful effervescent red cherry and wild strawberry scents intertwined with thrilling mineralité. The palate is perhaps a little behind that Grands Echézeaux in terms of assimilating the oak, since there is a patina of wood towards the finish, but there is real density here as it fans out with a quite splendid peacock's tail.

Deep garnet. Dense and rather surly on the nose initially. Lots of class and refinement. A very serious wine with real freshness and very composed and not remotely showy. Dry finish but with all the right components. Pretty firm, tannic finish. Really glorious wine! So lively and savoury. (JR)

Pale to mid garnet, lighter than the Échezeaux and Grands Échezeaux. A change of gear in aroma too, with sweeter red fruit, though not as sweet or red as on the Corton. Already beautifully fragrant and expressive on the nose and just a hint of oak spice and lightly smoky/mineral. But it is the fruit that is most expressive at the moment. With air, that mineral quality becomes more marked, with a light cedar quality adding to the impression of freshness. Again a touch of mint or balsam. Deep and supple on the palate, the acidity more marked than on the Échezeaux and Grands Échezeaux giving it a more streamlined shape on the palate, the tannins carried along by the acidity rather than holding everything in. With air, a little more stemmy. Really deep and with a more chocolate texture to the tannins on the finish, smooth but grainy. (JH)