2012 Romanee St Vivant
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Tasting notes
The 2012 Romanée Saint Vivant has come along beautifully over the last year. Bright, floral and lifted, the 2012 captures all of the finesse that makes wines from this site so seductive. Rose petal, crushed flowers of all sorts, red stone fruits, mint and cinnamon all lift from the glass in a precise, impeccable Burgundy. In 2012, the RSV is weightless and precise. The 2012 was aged in a single, new barrel and still needs time to fully integrate the oak, but I don't imagine that will be an issue by the time the 2012 is ready to drink in another decade or so.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
(just a single 400-liter barrel, from a crop level of 24 hectoliters per hectare): Good bright red. A note of reduction dissipated slightly to reveal scents of raspberry, lees and underbrush. Then almost shockingly penetrating in the mouth, with powerful saline minerality giving shape to the berry, smoke, exotic spice, mineral and earth flavors. Still a baby today and quite reduced. Best right now on the extremely long, smoky aftertaste, where the tannins are thoroughly buffered by the wine's mid-palate material. Jeremy Seysses says this is "grumpy" today.
The 2012 Romanée Saint Vivant is quite open and expressive. Savory herbs, tobacco, mint and game all take on an attractive element of lift and weightlessness in the glass. In 2012 there is just one barrel of the RSV, and today the wine remains a bit marked by the new oak. In the past, the Dujac RSV has always been slow to reveal all of its charms, so I can only imagine where the 2012 might be headed.
About the producer
Domaine Dujac is one of Burgundy’s most famous wine estates. It crafts red Burgundies with a distinct style, from a fantastic array of vineyard plots, including seven Grands Crus.