2015 Richebourg (Non-OC)
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Richebourg Grand Cru is a prodigious wine in the making, opening in the glass with a deep bouquet of black raspberry, cherry, licorice, orange rind, incense and strawberry, subtly framed by new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, multidimensional and complete, its flavors superbly concentrated and pure, its acids succulent and its tannins velvety and ample. More expansive than the Romanée Saint-Vivant, this Richebourg is also more backward and appears to possess the greater potential. "When I first arrived at the domaine, I tended to prefer the Romanée Saint-Vivant," confided winemaker Charles Van Canneyt, "but as my experience with the wines—old and young—grew, I have come to almost invariably favor the Richebourg."
Critic scores
Neal Martin
Allen Meadows, Burghound
More reviews and scores
Good dark red. At once darker, more restrained and less exotic on the nose than the Romanée-Saint-Vivant, offering scents of dark cherry, menthol and minerals. Boasts terrific thickness of texture but this is much tighter today than the RSV and showing less obvious early sweetness; Charles van Canneyt noted that this wine was more accessible in barrel than the RSV but not today. Still, this very long, sappy wine possesses the creamy depth to support its considerable tannic power and I would not be at all surprised if it eventually surpassed the RSV.
Some floral element on the nose. Succulent and opulent but without quite the drive of this producer's Romanée-St-Vivant. (JR)
Bright, dark red with ruby highlights. Inviting perfume of raspberry, cola, menthol and coffee. Densely packed and creamy; not necessarily more powerful today than the RSV but deeper and sweeter. The sappy black cherry and black raspberry fruit flavors are complicated by saline minerality. Finishes with big but well-supported tannins and outstanding sappy, slowly mounting length. Leaves behind a note of licorice in the empty glass. Van Canneyt noted that his Romanée-Saint-Vivant is "always easier to taste and understand early on than the Richebourg," but this wine is showing spectacularly today.
About the producer
Founded in 1962 by Alain Hudelot and based in Chambolle-Musigny, Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat is today run by Alain’s grandson Charles van Canneyt and has become one of the region’s most respected estates.