Tasting Notes
Vinous 94
The 2008 Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru has a beautiful bouquet with a slight Asian twist, wild mushroom (morels) and rose petal. The palate is medium-bodied with a fine bead of acidity, white pepper, crushed rock and a touch of tobacco. Very long in the mouth. This oozes class, puts the Echézeaux in its place, and you can see it continuing to unfurl after 15-20 minutes.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2040
Robert Parker 94
The 2008 Romanee St. Vivant is pure seduction. The aromatics alone are breathtaking, but the RSV is truly firing on all cylinders. Curiously, today the RSV is quite a bit rounder and suppler than the Echezeaux and Grands-Echezeaux. It shows remarkable silkiness, inner perfume and nobility. A seamless finish rounds things out in style. My instincts tell me this will firm up in bottle, but frankly I am a bit mystified that hasn’t happened yet. Today, this doesn’t look like a super long-term ager within the context of the domaine’s very finest wines. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2028. tasted the 2008s in bottle in late June 2011 after having gone through the 2010s from barrel. Aubert de Villaine describes 2008 as a difficult vintage with a lot of rain. Botrytis was an issue and the vineyards required constant attention. On September 14 the weather changed dramatically. A steady north wind dried out the grapes and concentrated sugars quickly, which also reduced the size of the berries. A further selection of fruit lowered yields to an even greater extent, resulting in overall production that is as much as 50% lower than normal for the Domaine. As for the wines, they are magnificent in my view, but will require considerable patience. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661
Anticipated maturity: 2018-2028
