Winemaker Notes
Brothers Maxime and Romain Champet are the family’s third generation to champion the once nearly-abandoned Côte Rôtie cru, La Viallière. With slopes often exceeding 50%, La Viallière is one of the steepest, rockiest vineyards in the appellation. The Champets must do almost everything by hand, and spend a considerable portion of the year just maintaining their terrace walls. Winemaking has remained staunchly classical, with long macerations, little or no destemming, and aging in primarily neutral, large oak barrels.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Readers who love old school Côte Rôtie that demands bottle age will love this beauty. Revealing a deep purple color as well as a mineral-drenched bouquet of black raspberries, camphor, new saddle leather, and peppery herbs, the 2018 Côte Rôtie La Vialliere hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, notable concentration, ripe yet firm, present tannins, and a great finish. This tannic, backward, yet impressive Côte Rôtie is going to demand 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for 20+ years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Youthful aromas of crème de framboise emerge on the nose of Champet's 2018 Cote Rotie la Vialliere accented by the scents of violets, vaguely herbal nuances and cracked pepper. Showing admirable purity and freshness, this medium-bodied effort has to rank up there with the 2015 as being among the domaine's top recent efforts. The tannins are silky, blending seamlessly into the wine's fruit-driven flesh, while the lingering finish folds in savory complexities reminiscent of olive and espresso.
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.