The wines were bottled in March and April 2018.
Because of the large losses of Echézeaux and Grands-Echézeaux in 2016, they were bottled only in magnum and not included in this tasting. As you can see, though, it is a spectacular group of wines.
My previous notes on tasting the 2016s from barrel (including Echézeaux and Grands-Echézeaux) are located here.
2016 Corton
This wine shows stones in the nose, typical of Corton at the Domaine. The mouth is smooth with great purity, depth, and dark fruits. The structure is less evident than usual, but it will be there with time. The wine is most notable for its depth and complexity. 96/A
2016 Romanée-Saint-Vivant
It’s difficult to remember that back in the 1980s, the Romanée-Saint-Vivant was somewhat the weak sister of the Domaine’s line up, seeming to be on a lower level than the other wines. All that’s changed and each vintage now the wine is among the most exciting in Burgundy. The nose is deep with spicy dark fruits, some earthiness, and also some red fruits. The mouth shows the sensual texture typical of RSV, power, structure, depth, length, and blue fruits. But be forewarned, it’s a wine that appears to need 25, maybe even 30 years, to full maturity. 98/A+
2016 Richebourg
Initially closed in the nose, with air the Richebourg begins to open and show dark fruits. The mouth is concentrated but relatively relaxed with red fruits and toward the back of the mouth some dark plums. It’s an ample wine that will take some aging to come around. 97/A+
2016 La Tâche
La Tâche has the deep, spiced nose one expects of it. The mouth is rounder and shows less muscle today than the Romanée-Saint-Vivant. But there are fireworks in the mouth here with spicy fruit and a velvet texture. It will be a great wine. 98+/A+
2016 Romanée-Conti
Last, the Romanée-Conti was relatively closed in the nose. The mouth is ample and round with expressive red fruit, more raspberry and red currant than the wild strawberries I usually find. The wine has good length and quite a bit of power — it is a wine to drink thirty years from now. As with the 2017, this is a spherical wine with no edges or corners. 98/A+