2001 Domaine Leroy Romanée St-Vivant Grand Cru

“Bright ruby-red. Extravagant, multifacted aromas of raspberry, strawberry, underbrush, cocoa powder, smoke and earth. Lush, suave and very deep, with a spherical shape that perfectly fills the mouth. Offers compelling fat and a seamless texture, but also superb delineation of flavor. More refined than the Corton that preceded it. A wine of compelling sweetness, with its tannins perfectly buffered by lush fruit.” (03/2003)

“Obvious wood toast still frames the super sexy and perfumed, ripe and ultra-spicy black fruit aromas. The stylish, intense and admirably pure medium-bodied flavors are quite concentrated and especially so in the context of the 2001 vintage, all wrapped in a moderately structured and hugely long finish. This is an extremely impressive effort of obvious breed that is surprisingly approachable yet so well-balanced that it should age for decades. Note that this has only just arrived at the front edge of its peak drinkability and thus for those who prefer more aged aromas and flavors could easily continue to cellar it for another 8 to 10 years with no fear of missing out. Tasted at least 6 times since it was released with mostly consistent notes save for one bottle that displayed secondary aromas tinged with volatile acidity; I assume that this bottle was not representative as none of the other 5 displayed any secondary nuances and certainly no VA.” (07/2015)