The colour is starting to lighten near the rim, but the bouquet is as potent as ever. There is still plenty of plummy fruit, but an earthy, savoury complexity to the wine itself immediately won over the table. The texture is still firm but supple and dense enough to avoid all astringency and to linger satisfyingly on the palate. Although the vines were young in 2001, and this was pretty closed early in its evolution, it is drinking like a dream today, and is still on the way up.

While this is showing some signs of aromatic development, it's clear that this classically styled Richebourg has a long way to go before it's ready for prime time. This still requires some coaxing before it reveals wonderfully complex aromas of a simply incredible array of black fruits, earth, spice, crushed herbs and notes of hoisin and clove that lead to focused and medium-bodied flavors that are supple, rich and impressively powerful, all wrapped in a superbly well-detailed and focused if overtly austere finish. I particularly like the almost pungent minerality and this particular vintage of DRC Riche is evolving quite slowly though my suggested initial drinking window of 2019+ still seems appropriate based on the most recent bottle. 2019+

The outstanding medium to dark ruby-colored 2001 Richebourg reveals a nose of spiced cherries and creamy blackberries. It expands on the palate displaying toasted oak-infused black cherry syrup. This hugely spicy medium-bodied wine has wonderful depth and a friendly juicy personality...