This is also very primary and backward as hints of supremely elegant and seductive exceptionally ripe black fruit aromas replete with soy hoisin clove and anise nuances merge into wonderfully fine and refined linear and firmly structured flavors that culminate in a precise pure and driving finish that goes on and on. This is a really impressive effort that offers terrific potential but fans of this wine should note that it is arguably more masculine than it usually is yet at the same time utterly seamless. A 'wow' wine that is perhaps the ripest of the DRC '05s. A true knockout that is sheer class.

Just as this year's Echezeaux challenges the quality of the Grands-Echezeaux another surprise of the vintage is a spectacular showing for the 2005 Romanee-St.-Vivant. A startlingly dark mouth-watering amalgam of purple plum paste blackberry preserves bitter chocolate toasted walnut soy and raw beef intrigues the nose. On the palate this cleaves to the dark side with viscous mouth-coating concentration of lightly-cooked black fruits charred meat mysterious forest floor complexity and bitter-sweet florality but simultaneously delivers a vibratory finish like that of the energetic Grands-Echezeaux. With its palpable extract profound personality and refined but abundant tannins this is surely wine to set aside for at least a decade.