1996 Bouchard Père & Fils La Romanée Grand Cru

Bouchard bottling. Medium ruby color that is no longer as deep as the '99. Fresh and still entirely primary, elegantly perfumed violet and black fruit aromas introduce round, sweet, brilliantly delineated middle weight flavors of considerable breed and class and delivers a racy, long, stunningly pure finish. The basic character here is interesting as the nose is wonderfully expressive yet the flavors, and especially the finish, is somewhat somber and reserved. Still, there is excellent potential though this will clearly require another 6 to 8 years to really begin drinking well. Tasted twice with consistent notes.

Author: Allen Meadows

This magnificent wine offers a medium-to-dark ruby color and an extraordinary nose of perfume, violets, and a myriad of red fruits. I was blown away by this wine's combination of precision, femininity, focus, and jammy, candied cherries. Traces of sweet, vanilla-infused oak grace this wine's complex and concentrated, yet lace-like flavor profile. Medium-to-full-bodied and silky-textured, this wine also possesses a long, soft, gorgeous finish that leaves the taster yearning for more. Finally, a La Romanee worthy of its name! Bravo! to Henriot, Hervet, and Prost for bringing Bouchard to such a high level of quality.

Author: Pierre Rovani