Winemaker Notes
Elegance is the major word in 2006 which will remain as a good classical vintage. The vine in the Cote-Blonde confirmed a quality improvement related to the draught of the last vintages... All the vines around the Viaillère developed as usual their incredible typicity: sweet texture, aromas of graphite and smoked bacon. This vintage reminds me of 1998, with more freshness. 1998 tastes very well at the moment. Cote-Rotie 2006 will age with harmony because the grape ripening went just to the right level.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Pure and silky, with layers of black cherry and crushed plum fruit woven with sanguine and macerated olive notes. Nice underlying cut runs through the sage-tinged finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Cote Rotie (100% Syrah, 9,000 bottles produced) was aged in 60-70% new oak casks. Its gorgeous nose of tapenade, creme de cassis, and flowers is followed by a medium to full-bodied wine displaying sweet fruit, good acidity, beautiful density, and a subtle dosage of oak.
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.