Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Based on fruit from La Landonne, Côte Rozier, and Côte Blonde and fermented with 70% stems, the 2023 Côte Rôtie Les Journaries is still resting in demi-muids. Cassis, black cherries, liquid violets, and black pepper all emerge from the glass, and it's an incredibly classic, classic Côte Rôtie from Levet that has all the wildness you'd expect while staying pure, clean, and elegant. Released under the name Maestria in Europe, this is a beautiful wine that will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Drawn from parcels in La Landonne, Côte Rozier and part of Côte Blonde and vinified with around 70% whole clusters, the 2023 Côte-Rôtie Les Journaries opens with a slightly more pronounced reductive character than Améthyste, revealing deeper, more somber aromas that render the bouquet almost closed at this stage. Medium- to full-bodied, it’s dense and structured, offering impressive depth and breadth, with a multidimensional core of fruit that expresses the authority of its terroirs and a seamless, profound mid-palate framed by sweet, powdery tannins. The whole clusters are barely perceptible, and the finish is long, saline and mineral. It's a serious, racy Côte-Rôtie built for the cellar.
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Vinous
The complex 2023 Côte-Rôtie Les Journaries / Maestria breathes out enticing dried violets, orange rind, ripe black cherry, fleshy tones and gently detailed pencil shavings. Midweight and well-rounded, the 2023 shows a little more ambition compared to the Améthyste from the same vintage, bringing it into its final frame with superb vivacity on the long, detailed 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.