Domaine de Bonserine Cote Rotie Sarrasine 2004
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Wine Spectator
Very juicy, with notes of licorice and blackberry leading the way for more typical tobacco, iron and sweet toast notes. The long, briary finish shows excellent cut and grip. Best from 2008 through 2015.
Our terroir is located primarily in the Côte-Rotie, where the soil is rich in iron-oxide, making powerful and colorful wines. Our first plots were planted in the 1950’s on the beautiful hillsides of Ampuis. The average age of the vines is 25 years and each year they provide "the best" of old vine Syrah.
In the second half of the 1990s, major modernization was undertaken using stainless steel tanks and other modern equipment. This period also marked the beginning of a decade of major changes in the vineyard with new plantings on the prestigious Viallière and Planèze parcels and better capitalization of the potential of each terroir.
Since 2006, Domaine de Bonserine has been owned by E.Guigal who has preserved our qualitative philosophy. Today, our wines are found on the finest tables around the world.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
The cultivation of vines here began with Greek settlers who arrived in 600 BC. Its proximity to Vienne was important then and also when that city became a Roman settlement but its situation, far from the negociants of Tain, led to its decline in more modern history. However the 1990s brought with it a revival fueled by one producer, Marcel Guigal, who believed in the zone’s potential. He, along with the critic, Robert Parker, are said to be responsible for the zone’s later 20th century renaissance.
Where the Rhone River turns, there is a build up of schist rock and a remarkable angle that produces slopes to maximize the rays of the sun. Cote Rotie remains one of the steepest in viticultural France. Its varied slopes have two designations. Some are dedicated as Côte Blonde and others as Côte Brune. Syrahs coming from Côte Blonde are lighter, more floral, and ready for earlier consumption—they can also include up to 20% of the highly scented Viognier. Those from Côte Brune are more sturdy, age-worthy and are typically nearly 100% Syrah. Either way, a Cote Rotie is going to have a particularly haunting and savory perfume, expressing a more feminine side of the northern Rhone.