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Romanée St. Vivant 2013 75cl

AOC Grand Cru | Côte de Nuits | Burgundy | France
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Critics scores
96 Robert Parker
The 2013 Romanée-Saint-Vivant has enthralling transparency and clarity on the nose with perfumed black cherry, bilberry and cold stone scents, perhaps almost like Richebourg in style! The palate is medium-bodied with saturated, silky smooth tannins, luscious red cherry and pomegranate fruit with great purity on the long and tender finish. This is very tempting and sensual. Put a padlock and key on this for several years. Lalou was looking positively “chipper” when I visited her cellars on a Friday morning. Last time she has been suffering after a cold but today she was “en forme," chatty and energetic as ever. I have a theory that she is the “Benjamin Button” of Vosne: more and more youthful as she gets older…or is that younger? As usual, I spent a few moments gazing at the plethora of photographs adorning the walls of various luminaries with Lalou before descending in the elevator with her two dogs, one of whom was almost covered in Musigny 2013 when it leaped in front of the spit bucket. “The 2013 was a difficult season,” she told me, “but autumn saved the vintage. I like the 2013, because each terroir is very expressive. It’s another thing compared to 2012…just different. We started the picking on 25 September in Nuits Saint Georges and finished on 3 October. The yields were 16-hl/ha on average in 2013, which is more than 9 hectoliter per hectare in 2012 and 14 hectoliter per hectare in 2014.” I tasted through the entire range of reds from Leroy save for the Corton-Charlemagne having been bottled three weeks prior to my visit. Indeed, I got the impression that Lalou was pleased with how the wines were in barrel and heeding her policy of bottling relatively earlier than her peers, entertained the possibility of bottling the reds in December. As you would expect, such low yields and meticulous attention to the vineyard has created some exceptionally fine 2013s. The notes hopefully speak for themselves, but would point attention towards a really quite riveting Latricières-Chambertin 2013, which in the past I have felt was not one of Lalou’s strongest wines. However on this occasion…wow…it has the audacity to shade the Chambertin. Also, I enjoyed the brightness and transparency exuded by the Savigny-lès-Beaune les Nanbartons and the undeniable complexity of her Musigny, alas just two barrels like last year, although if rarity turns you on, try and find her hail-affected Volnay Santenots that was reduced to a single barrel. 
Producer
Domaine Leroy
As it became increasingly difficult to find wines that met the high standards of the Maison Leroy label, Madame Lalou Bize-Leroy decided to purchase her own vineyards. Piecing together several estates, she established Domaine Leroy in 1988. Today, the vineyards stretch over 21-hectares across mostly Grand Cru and Premier Cru classified zones. Following Lalou Bize-Leroy’s deep-rooted belief that everything is alive – from the soil to the grapes to humanity – she immediately introduced biodynamic farming out of respect for the terroir. This formerly controversial cultivation practice, is now a widely-known holistic approach that focuses on the interconnectedness of our environment – taking into account astrological and cosmic influences as well. Without the use of any chemical fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, or pesticides the vineyards are tended to year round – everything is hand done. The results of this quality-conscious producer are astounding. The wines are extremely concentrated yet refined, with a rare purity that stems from the property’s intuitive vineyards.