Côte
Rôtie tasting
Tasting a nice line-up of wines from this northern Rhône
appellation
At
Roberson Wine, www.robersonwine.com

Some people
say that the vineyards of Côte Rôtie were first planted by the
Greeks. Whether or not this was true, the vineyards are known to
have been planted by the time of the Roman occupation of Gaul. The
wine from these slopes found its way back to Rome and became well
known there.
As the Roman
empire collapsed, the wines disappeared off the radar, and there
were few medieval records of Côte Rôtie. It is from the 18th
century that mention is made of the ‘roasted slope’ (Côte Rôtie),
but phylloxera hit at the end of the 19th century and in the space
of two years winegrowing here was obliterated, and then slow to get
going again. Many replanted in polyculture.
The first
war wiped out a generation of young men (150 winegrowers were lost),
and these labour-intensive slopes further suffered in the second
war. By 1949 the negociant price of Côte Rôtie was similar to that
of table wine, and by the end of the 1960s just 70 hectares remained
planted. Fortunately, the fortunes of the appellation have revived,
in no small part due to the efforts of Guigal with his famous single
vineyard wines (La Mouline, first made 1966; La Turque, first made
1985; La Landonne, first made 1978). There are now 264 hectares
planted, so it is still a really small appellation.
Style is an
issue in Côte Rôtie: ironically, Guigal, who is credited with much
of the success of the appellation in recent years, makes wines that
have been criticised for being in an international style, and not
the most expressive of this terroir.
Another
issue is the inclusion of Viognier. Alone in the northern Rhône, Côte
Rôtie is allowed to have up to 20% Viognier in it, which must be
cofermented with the Syrah. I can’t imagine anyone would get close
to this much Viognier, and Syrah here is capable of producing very
floral wines without any at all. Too much Viognier makes the wine
smell of apricots.
We tasted a
range of wines here, covering different vintages and styles.
JM Gerin
Champin Le Seigneur 2001 Côte Rôtie, Northern Rhône, France
Gerin is regarded to be a modernist. He took over from his father
who was old school, and in the 1980s went into a joint venture with
American investors, taking 5 hectares of the family holdings. He was
a student of Jean Luc Colombo. This wine is quite elegant, though,
albeit with some oak influence. Warm spicy nose with some hints of
medicine. The palate is savoury, spicy, meaty
and has some red fruit character. Fine with some nice
complexity, drinking well now. 93/100
Rostaing
Côte Rôtie La Landonne 2001 Northern Rhône, France
Rostaing married the daughter of famous producer Albert Dervieux,
and is nephew of Marius
Gentaz, the legendary late producer (Gentaz-Dervieux). He took over
lots of Marius’ vines in 1993. Rostaing destems 100%, except for
this wine, which is made half with whole bunches. Refined and quite
elegant red fruits nose with some fine, perfumed cherry fruit. The
palate is fresh with savoury, grippy tannins and lovely red cherry
fruit. An elegant, almost Burgundian wine, fine and expressive.
95/100
Clusel
Roch Côte Rôtie 2000 Northern Rhône, France
Focused, taut, spicy nose with a hint of earthiness to the red
fruits. The palate is fresh and elegant with a savoury, slightly
earthy twist to the berry and cherry fruits. An expressive,
understated win. Not profound but very tasty. 92/100
Ogier Côte
Rôtie 1998 Northern Rhône, France
Quite rich, sweet, dense and meaty on the nose with notes of
olive and spice. Warm and ripe. Lovely presence on the palate,
showing raspberry and black cherry as well as a mineral dimension.
Rich but savoury at the same time. A big wine with some animal
hints. 94/100
Delas Côte
Rôtie La Landonne 1998 Northern Rhône, France
Nicely fresh iodine, spice and mineral nose with fresh red
fruits. Elegant and savoury. The palate has lovely freshness with
some savoury, mineral, expressive notes. Open and expressive with
savoury bacon notes in the background. Drinking very well now.
94/100
Chapoutier
Côte Rôtie la Mordoree 1995 Northern Rhône, France
12.8% alcohol, 100% Syrah, 65 year old vines. Slightly muted
savoury nose is surprisingly closed. The palate is dense and taut
with some raspberry and plum fruit. Savoury with some purity of
fruit. Still linear with tannic grip. 92/100
Jaboulet
Les Jumelles Côte Rôtie 1978 Northern Rhône, France
Slightly bricking at the rim, but still cherry red. Subtly
aromatic nose of earth, spice, iodine and minerals. The palate has
some freshness and appealin iodine and mineral notes, as well as a
bit of meatiness. Fresh, complex and slightly mineral. 93/100
Guigal Côte
Rôtie La Turque 1998 Northern Rhône, France
7% Viognier, 400 cases made. Limestone/silica/schist/clay soils.
Deep coloured. Dark, roasted, spicy black fruits nose is very
savoury and quite intense. The palate is rich and spicy with some
oak. Warm and quite mineral with nice acidity. Dense, firm, spicy,
fresh and intense with meaty complexity. A big, spicy style. 93/100
Guigal Côte
Rôtie La Mouline 1998 Northern Rhône, France
11% Viognier, 400 cases. Gneiss, limestone, silica soils. Subtle
roast coffee and spice edge to the fine red fruits nose with some
iodine hints. Really elegant and expressive with meat, iodine and
spice notes. Intense but with elegance to the cherry fruit. Superb
stuff. 95/100
Côte Rôtie
La Landonne 1998 Northern Rhône, France
100% Syrah, clay limestone soils rich in iron oxide. 800
cases. Taut black cherry and plum fruit nose with some fine spicy
notes. Some rich, spicy, roasted notes on the palate but also nice
fruit. Some firm tannins. Iodine, spice and a bit of meatiness. Firm
with some earthy notes; currently quite closed, just about carrying
the oak, needs time. 94/100
See
also:
The
wines of Gilles Barge, Cote Rotie
An
introduction to Cote Rotie
The
wines of Domaine Daubree, Cote Rotie
The
wines of Yves Cuilleron, Northern Rhone
Wines
tasted 03/11
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