2016 - Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Cros Parantoux, Meo Camuzet

(alcohol close to 14%): Bright ruby-red. Very pure aromas of black raspberry, licorice, bitter chocolate and pungent crushed-stone minerality. Boasts alluring sweetness and sexy inner-mouth perfume, with its intense dark fruit and mineral flavors enlivened by brisk acidity. Not quite as salty as the Brûlées but still boasts terrific inner-mouth tension and energy. Still a bit youthfully tight--and less charming than the Brûlées--but not at all hard. The tannins reach the front teeth. Méo harvested this fruit later than the Brûlées, and this wine will need more bottle aging for its structure to soften. A great premier cru in the making.

The 2016 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux is blessed with a bewitching and detailed bouquet with subtle floral scents: wilted rose petals littered over redcurrant and cranberry aromas, a hint of clove emerging with time. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, cohesive with fine-boned and yet somehow understated with a touch of salinity and lapsang souchong on the finish. Maybe at present, a more reserved Cros Parantoux than Emmanuel Rouget’s, yet one can already see its potential.