Winemaker Notes
These Côte-Rôtie vines include holdings in the Le Champin, Leyat, Côte Blonde, Les Moutonnes, La Brosse, Fongeant, and Le Champin lieux-dits. The vineyards are split between the steep inclines guarding the slopes above the town of Ampuis and the flat plateau, which has been planted since the 1960s.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Blackberries, violets, game, and bouquet garni all emerge from Burgaud's 2022 Côte Rôtie. Medium to full-bodied and nicely concentrated on the palate, with ripe tannins, this elegant and seamless effort shows beautiful balance and will drink well for over a decade.
-
James Suckling
A bright, juicy and pulpy Cote-Rotie. The nose reveals notes of dark cherries, blueberries, roasted meat, baking spices and a touch of leather. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins and bright acidity. Vivid and transparent with a succulent core of blue fruit at the center. Bright and pure. Lively finish.
-
Wine Spectator
This earthy, old-school style melds iodine and earth notes with flavors of black raspberry and cherry. Firm despite its breadth on the palate, with chewy tannins and a cedar accent encasing tobacco, singed sage and bergamot details. Floral and racy on the finish. Drink now through 2035. 1,966 cases made, 142 cases imported.
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.