Winemaker Notes
On the palate, it reveals a fresh attack followed by an ample, structured, long-lasting finish. The wine unfurls in successive stages and ends with top-quality tannins produced by whole cluster fermentation. It features aromas and flavors of smoked ham, violet, graphite, graphite, and licorice.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2020 Côte Rôtie, which is certainly the standout from the North. Coming from both the southern and northern ends of the appellation, it’s full-bodied, ripe, and textured, yet never loses a sense of Côte Rôtie elegance. Lots of bacon fat, exotic flowers (I wrote liquid violet in my notes), and gamey blue fruits define the nose, and the balance is spot on, it has silky tannins and is just another brilliant wine.
Range: 91-93 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Barruol's 2020 Cote Rotie blends fruit from both ends of the appellation to create an exciting blend of violets and blueberries on the nose. It's medium to full-bodied, but richly concentrated and silky, with a lingering, elegant finish. Terrific stuff.
Range: 94-96 -
Wine Enthusiast
The nose exhibits good concentration, revealing an enticing concentration of cherries, strawberries, wild mint and green olives. The complex palate delights, unveiling additional layers of black fruit, white tea, violets, thyme and fresh earth. The tannins gently coat the front of the front of the mouth, while the acidity ensures a gentle long finish, making it a truly complex and sophisticated wine.
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Wine Spectator
A very stylish Côte-Rôtie, with nice depth and complexity. Offers layers of blackberry and cassis that are polished and pure, detailed by crushed herbs, black licorice, zesty iron minerality and a subtle pastry note, all of which are well-chiseled through the finish.
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.