2018 - Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Cros Parantoux, Emmanuel Rouget

The 2018 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux exhibits aromas of raspberries, red cherries, orange rind, smoked duck and spices. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, amply endowed with powdery structuring tannins and underpinned by succulent acids. The finish is long and penetrating. Harvested on September 10, the Cros Parantoux attained fully 14.4% alcohol this year.

The 2018 Vosne-Romanée Cros Parantoux 1er Cru, matured in 100% new oak, has a more introverted, backward bouquet than the Beaumonts. It offers precocious blackberry and raspberry preserve scents, then crushed stone aromas. This feels mercurial as it develops floral aromas of incense and crushed violet with time in glass. The palate is well balanced, intense and supremely detailed, and there is outstanding tension and real heft on the finish. This Cros Parantoux is a paradigm of the old "iron fist in a velvet glove" cliché.