100 Robert Parker
A consummate perfectionist, Mme. Leroy feels that with the 1995 vintage she has finally understood how to make a stunning Romanee-St.-Vivant. When all the 1995s have reached their respective peaks, Domaine Leroy's Romanee-St.-Vivant (175 cases) will most probably be considered as her greatest wine and one of the best Burgundies ever produced. Tears filled my eyes as I returned, time and again, to my glass. This vineyard is known by the Burgundy cognoscenti as having the most remarkable aromatics to be found, but often lacking volume and texture. Its stunning nose was matched with equally marvelous flavors. Dark ruby/purple colored with engulfing aromas of Asian spices, roses, violets, cassis, and red cherries (intermingled with touches of sweet oak), this medium-to-full bodied wine provided a spiritual, nearly levitating experience. Flavors of chewy dark berries, sweet sauteed mushrooms, and a touch of tar unfolded in this sublimely elegant, complex, deeply concentrated wine. A compelling effort, this classic should be at its best between 2005-2020.
98 Wine Spectator
One of the great wines of the vintage--you'll think it's from another planet. Decadent stuff, this red Burgundy is full-bodied, ripe and sweet-tasting, with savage earth, petrol, tar, cassis, mocha, chocolate and coffee flavors. It boasts incredible concentration and superbly integrated tannins that blanket your palate like velvet. Drinkable now, but will improve through 2020. ?PM