Winemaker Notes
The color is deep crimson. The powerful yet subtle nose of Côte-Rôtie "Seigneur de Maugiron"" has blackcurrant, red currant, licorice and smoky aromas, underscored with light woody notes. The palate seduces with a structure with silky tannins, while the nose combines complexity and elegance, with aromas of black fruits, spices and sometimes violets.
This wine pairs well with fine meats, roast beef, water games, truffles and spicy stews..
Blend: 100% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Deep nose of elderberries, wild blackberries, allspice and orange peel. Very powerful thanks to the abundant healthy tannins that feel finer the farther back the wine flows over your palate. Full-bodied, but with an excellent freshness, the tannins building to an imposing crescendo at the plush finish. Mainly from the Cote Brune section of this appellation. A pure syrah matured exclusively in Burgundian oak barrels, of which almost a third were new. Best from 2027.
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Wine Spectator
Dense and sleek, with power behind the bitter cherry, dusty earth, black pepper, anise and singed bacon fat flavors, grounded by a solid spine of graphite and mineral energy. Cedar toast and wood spice details chime in, but not too assertively. Power builds for the savory, mouthwatering, sanguine finish, which stretches out. Drink now through 2033.
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Vinous
The refined 2022 Côte-Rôtie Seigneur de Maugiron easily outperforms the 2021 I tasted last year. Swirling the glass unlocks finely delineated black cherry, red plum, pencil shaving and violet aromas. Framed by ripe tannins, the medium-bodied 2022 smoothly glides across the palate and checks out with elegance on the defined 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.