Winemaker Notes
The assemblage, a key word for Jean-Paul, makes it possible to access the Côte Rôtie of the Domaine Jamet. The variety of terroirs, exposure and the age of the vines are complementary elements that combine their strengths. Produced from twenty parcels and essentially in whole bunches, the wine is subsequently kept in barrels for twenty-two months.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A tasting of five different barrels, drawn from 24 blocks across 19 lieux-dits, mostly schist terroirs in Ampuis and St-Cyr. It's almost 100% whole bunch in 2017, with a minimal 15% of new oak used. Gerine is ripe and harmonious, with intense, sappy fruits and muscular tannins. Fongeant is sleek, dark and elegant. Le Plomb/Le Truchet takes tannin from the first site, acidity from the second and displays a soaring fragrance of burnt herbs. Tartaras/Bonnivières/top of Fongeant has incredible freshness and tight, fine tannins. Lastly, La Landonne, Côte Blonde, Moutonne and Côte Rozier has intense, tight, saline tannins and juniper and liquorice-tinged dark fruits. The overall impression is a powerful, ripe, structured and very fresh Côte-Rôtie, very well balanced with bright acidity, that will age impressively.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Just bottled, literally, the day before my visit, the 2017 Côte Rôtie nevertheless showed incredibly well, with loads of violets, pepper, game, framboise, and darker fruits. As Côte Rôtie as Côte Rôtie gets, this full-bodied beauty has ultra-fine tannins, intoxicating complexity and nuance, no hard edges, and a great finish. Give it 4-5 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following 20 years or more.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Cote Rotie was still in separate lots when I visited, yet I came away with remarkably similar impressions from the Gerine (fragrant charming and silky) and le Plomb (taut, intense and structural) as I did last year. A number of other lots will go into the final assemblage (Chavaroche, Fongeant, Lezardes and several more, probably including La Landonne). There's more cracked pepper and violets on the nose of the 2017 than the 2018 and also a touch more crispness and tension on the palate.
Range: 93-96
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.