Romanée Conti, Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2016

The 2016 Romanée-Conti Grand Cru is a worthy successor to the profound 2015, wafting from the glass with aromas of wild berries, violets, peony, dark chocolate, cinnamon and exotic spices. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and satiny, with an ineffable sense of completeness, searing concentration without weight, a vibrant, indeed animating line of acidity, and a long, expansive finish that concludes with a judicious touch of mouthwatering bitterness. Wines like this are the foundation of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti's reputation. 2026 - 2075

Here the nose is very much in that young RC mode of 'don't bother me' as it requires aggressive swirling to grudgingly reveal smoky and overtly floral suffused aromas of plum, cassis, spiced tea and sandalwood. The gorgeously sleek medium weight plus flavors possess a wonderfully seductive mouthfeel along with plenty of minerality that also suffuses the splendidly long and beautifully well-balanced if youthfully austere finale. Like the La Tâche this spherical effort is also very much built to age and is a wine that is going to require the better part of three decades to realize its full potential. While it is very much fraught to be making projections about all-time great vintages of RC when there have been so many over the storied history of this wine, I would say that the '16 is RC quite simply breathtakingly good and for me it's the wine of the vintage. Drink: +/2041+