Richebourg, Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2005

Just as it was last year, this is also very shut down at present though vigorous swirling coaxes superbly elegant and pure aromas that are wonderfully broad and include red, black, blue and violet aromas as well as seemingly a full cupboard of Asian spices that complement to perfection the extremely rich, full and sweet flavors that are quite floral in the mouth, all wrapped in a detailed and punchy finish where the tannic spine is completely buried. While it sounds moderately odd to describe it this way, there is a swagger to the '05 Riche and this will clearly be one very long distance runner. The other aspect that is notable is how intensely mineral-driven the '05 Riche is and interestingly, this seems almost delicate next to the opulence of the RSV. Indeed it's as though the Riche and RSV have exchanged personalities! A (very high level) qualitative choice but believe me when I say that the underlying characters of these two wines couldn't be more different.