Allen Meadows - Score: 95 (2018 Jan.)

A restrained but still wonderfully spicy nose consists of ripe aromas of poached plum, violet, lavender and black cherry liqueur. The middle weight flavors possess a highly refined mouthfeel with a silky mid-palate yet the hugely long and slightly warm finish is borderline chewy. There is no doubting the quality of the underlying material and the length here is genuinely superb but it would be fair to observe that this is a very robust RSV. Patience will be required.

Vinous - Score: 92-94 (2017 Jan.)

(13.2% natural alcohol, from vines picked at the end): Full ruby-red. Aromas of blackberry, cassis, licorice and spices convey a gamey wildness plus a whiff of adhesive tape that quickly dissipated. Densely packed and a bit high-toned, with no lack of acidity to the flavors of crushed blackberry and tropical dark chocolate. This very ripe but taut Romanée-Saint-Vivant, from 80-year-old vines that yielded 33 hectoliters per hectare in 2015, seems youthfully sullen today and its dusty tannins are a bit tough in the early going. It will need longer in barrel--not to mention considerable time in bottle--to absorb some of its baby fat and show itself more clearly. Will it eventually reveal the clarity and class for greatness?