Winemaker Notes
The lion's share of the fruit for the 2020 vintage comes from a single lieu-dit, Rosier, a narrow vineyard valley with rare geological makeup known as Bonnevaux L'Amballan. The roots here dive deep through thin sheets of fine-grained shale and clay deposits, soaking up minerals like a tonic along the way. The resulting fruit is highly concentrated and capable of producing intensely aromatic, age-worthy wines. True to form, the nose of Les Roses is pure poesy, all fruit, flowers, and fodder—black currant, rose petal and violet, antique leather. Layered and textural, this tightly bound opus will open and unfurl itself with time, be it an hour in a decanter or decades in the cellar.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
An appealing stream of strappy red and black fruit melds seamlessly with notes of roasted apple wood and a beam of iron. Cashmere-fine tannins provide just enough framework and make for real textural intrigue. This is silky, showing subtle chewiness, with smoked garrigue and juniper piercing through. Drink now through 2035.
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.