Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This is supple and cool, with Cote Blonde restraint. Five percent viognier adds extra lift, plling the bright spice of syrah along with it; the fruit feels gentle, the wine's power apparent in its extraordinary length rather than muscle.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bottled in June of this year, the 2012 Côte Rôtie Blonde de Seigneur comes from the lighter soils of the southern part of the appellation and was completely destemmed and vinified all in stainless steel. Incorporating 3-5% Viognier and aged 18 months in 30% new barrels, it exhibits a complex, refined style to go with pretty rose petal, red raspberry and spice-driven aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, seamless and elegant, with a forward, feminine style, drink it over the coming decade.
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.