2007 Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat Romanée-Saint-Vivant Grand Cru

Good medium red. Highly perfumed nose combines raspberry, strawberry, cocoa powder, white pepper, blood orange and a resiny headshop spiciness. Pungent, complex and weightless; a wonderfully lively, delicate wine with sneaky intensity and superb penetrating energy and lift. Finishes dry and understated. Suave rather than large. My recorked bottle lost some verve with 24 hours, suggesting that this wine is probably best for mid-term drinking-say, beginning in five years. But that brilliant nose can't be duplicated anywhere outside the northern C o te de Nuits. Van Canneyt told me he doesn't consider 2007 to be a great year for this domain and that he prefers the 2008s for their depth of fruit and texture.

Good bright, dark red. Reticent but pure aromas of black cherry, dark berries, cocoa, soy sauce and spicy oak. A bit youthfully imploded today but denser and considerably sweeter than the Clos de Vougeot. This really spreads out on the back end, finishing long and energetic. In the suave style of the vintage's better examples.

Spicy with hints of cherry fruit, maybe liquorice. Zesty and well balanced. Moderate depth and length. (JH)