2022 Alain Hudelot-Noellat - Romanee St. Vivant

Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat is based in Vougeot, at the heart of the Côte de Nuits, where Alain Hudelot founded the estate in 1962. His grandson, Charles van Canneyt, now oversees roughly ten hectares spread across four villages and fifteen appellations, guided by a philosophy of humility toward nature and minimal intervention in the cellar. The domaine has quietly become one of Burgundy's most admired names, prized for wines of precision rather than force.

The domaine's Romanée-Saint-Vivant comes from a tiny, east-facing parcel of just under half a hectare, planted with vines dating back to 1920 and lying directly beside Domaine de la Romanée-Conti's holdings. Grapes are hand-harvested with a portion of whole clusters, fermented with native yeasts in concrete vats, and aged in barrel with a carefully judged share of new oak before bottling without fining or filtration.

The 2022 opens with cherries, wild berries, rose petals, and exotic spices, unfurling into a full-bodied, fleshy, and perfumed wine. The attack is velvety, moving into a layered, almost unctuous core of fruit framed by sweet, powdery tannins. It finishes long and resonant, combining real intensity with the finesse that defines great Romanée-Saint-Vivant, and should reward a decade or more of patient cellaring.