(24 hectoliters per hectare): Dark red-ruby color. Medicinal black cherry, blackberry, violet, lavender, sandalwood and crushed rock on the nose. Then wonderfully silky and spherical in the mouth but firm as well, conveying a distinctly suave impression for all its concentration. Flavors of dark fruits, coffee, flowers and spices saturate the entire palate. In its texture and length, this sample reminded me a bit of the 2015 version--and it's more elegant and less chewy and rough than the 2016 Echézeaux or Grands-Echézeaux. (ST)

An exuberantly fresh if restrained nose offers up a panoply of spice elements that add breadth to the mostly dark berry fruit and plum aromas that are laced with smoky hints of violet, rose petal, lavender and a whisper of sandalwood. The tautly muscular broad-shouldered flavors possess outstanding mid-palate density as well as evident minerality on the focused, impeccably well-balanced and hugely persistent finale that just goes and goes. The '16 Riche is a bit more refined than usual thanks to the beautifully fine-grained tannins and a wine that could aptly be described as a lovely combination of power and refinement that should also successfully age for a very long time.

The Richebourg has discreet yet powerfully brooding aromatics, mingling a hint of whole-bunch fruit with a spicy undertone of oak. It has energetic drive from exotic mulberry fruit, with an immediate fleshy, sweet dark berry impact on the tongue. Super-juicy loganberry flavours come in on the mid-palate, with the tannins tucked behind the fruit for a while. The texture is voluptuous and the structure stealthily emerges as the supple tannins and fresh acidity combine together in a tapering, slow-burning finish. (AR)