Tasted at The Sampler as part of their icon series of wines, the 1955 Richebourg Grand Cru is a pleasant surprise. The color is commensurate with its age, with broad bricking at the rim, its pallid hue belying a surprisingly vivacious bouquet with wild hedgerow, dried orange rind and rusty nails. Leaving it to open for a couple of minutes there is an unexpected minty scent. The palate is light, but balanced, with a smooth, harmonious entry. Still fresh and yet elegiac, the frayed finish is tender and a little hard, having lost its Richebourg robustness many moons ago. But there is something beguiling about this wine and I suspect a perfect bottle would be quite astonishing. Drink now. Tasted November 2013. When an acquaintance approached me brandishing a bottle of Richebourg from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, I would never have guessed the vintage (though knowing him I should have guessed.)