(this vineyard is presently divided into fourths by the Domaine and one section is never used, another is always used and the remaining two are evaluated and added or not as quality dictates; generally the amount held out amounts to 1.5 ha) An ultra elegant, pure and quite delicately fruited and spiced nose that is extremely fresh, floral and expansive as it introduces seductively textured, detailed and gorgeously delineated middle weight flavors that possess laser-like focus if less density than is usually seen with this wine. Indeed, this is rather like a ballerina with limited power and weight but the watch word here is purity, purity and purity. I quite like this but it will strike some as unduly light though I believe the underlying material is present such that it will add weight in bottle as it ages.

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Medium red. Precise aromas of violet, cocoa powder, smoky oak and earth, with red berries emerging with aeration. Tighter in the middle palate than the Grands-Echezeaux, showing somewhat cooler, soil-driven flavors and a sexy dusty minerality, but this still boasts impressive breadth and fat. Finishes classically dry and extremely long, with building tannins. An exciting wine in the making but austere today and in need of a decade of patience.

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Exuberant and bright on the nose. Smells cooler though all the samples are the same temperature. Slightest touch of white pepper. Tightly furled on the palate, very fresh and no fat but not lean either. Tannins are fine and upright. Less playful on the palate than on the nose, more like an athlete limbering up even though the mid palate is already scented. (JH)

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The Domaine's 2007 Romanee-St.-Vivant predictably inhabits a different world ' not to mention being in a different league of complexity and intrigue ' from their Echezeaux, Grands Echezeaux, or Richebourg of that vintage. Peat, leather, humus, forest floor, and decadent floral perfume are joined by an oceanic saline, alkaline, kelp-tinged aspect, and these surf-and-turf aspects follow on a polished palate that ' despite only the slightest nod in the direction of overt fruitiness by way of dark berries ' nevertheless displays a mouth-watering juiciness to accompany its myriad mineral and organic complexities. A persistently satisfying and thought-provoking finish points to the likelihood of 12-15 years continuance.

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Very together, revealing pure floral, strawberry and raspberry aromas and flavors. Refined, balanced and harmonious, with the firm structure showing on the lingering mineral finish. I prefer this to the Richebourg today.

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