The score for 1996 DRC Romanee St Vivant Marey Monge Grand Cru is 94 from Robert Parker and the tasting note - The 1996 Romanée Saint-Vivant Grand Cru continues to be an absolutely delightful wine from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and puts to rest memories of a sub-par bottle tasted blind several years ago. Now two decades old, it retains a healthy color with little sign of ageing. The bouquet is fresh and vital, angular at first yet seeming to gain harmony with each swirl of the glass. It is not intense, but prioritizes clarity and tension over power. Dark berry fruit emerge first, briary and Vervain tea, an underlying mineralité eventually coming forth. The palate is very well balanced, quite linear and certainly not flamboyant or flattering. It makes you, the taster, work to seek out its nuances, its energy and refinement. Hints of black cherry intermingle with a marine-like undertow that governs that finish. It does not posses huge depth and I think Aubert de Villaine makes a more sophisticated wine nowadays, but it remains a joy.