Winemaker Notes
This wine pairs well with fine meats, roast beef, water games, truffles and spicy stews. It is recommended to open the bottle one to three hours before serving and decanted if the wine has been laid down for more than five years.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the Côte Rôties, the entry-level 2016 Côte Rôtie Seigneur De Maugiron has outstanding potential. Made from 100% Syrah all from mica-schist soils, its deep purple color is followed by classic darker berry fruits, peppery herbs, graphite, and lots of rocky minerality. It’s medium-bodied, nicely concentrated, and has enough tannin to warrant 2-3 years of bottle age.
Range: 91-93 -
James Suckling
Plenty of exotic spice and fragrant allure. Bright, red cherries and berries with baking spices and meaty notes. The palate is supple, elegant and packed with sweetly spiced fruit flavors. Fine tannins. Elegant and very approachable. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The aromatic 2016 Cote Rotie Seigneur de Maugiron lacks the tannic backbone of the La Landonne, but it will be approachable on release. Violet, herb, black olive and tar notes add complexity to the ripe raspberry fruit in this medium to full-bodied wine that's already supple and seductive.
Range: 90-93 -
Wine Spectator
Sleek and refined, with a very focused beam of cassis and cherry preserves laced with subtle tea, bay leaf and floral notes. Bright acidity enhances the iron-tinged minerality on the finish. Drink now through 2030.
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Decanter
The dense inky hue reflects the intensity of the black cherry and bramble fruit. It is a flashy style with assertive oak. The palate is a touch volatile, but the firm tannins and long finish are in balance. Drinking Window 2020 - 2027
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.