Winemaker Notes
It is dark and inky, yet the Syrah does all the talking—meaty, smoky, with violets, bacon fat, black pepper, and a sturdy, palate-staining follow-through.
Blend: 90% Syrah, 10% Viognier
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of three lieux-dits in the Côte Brune, Faury's 2019 Cote Rotie is exceptional, and it may actually outpace his old-vine cuvée from Saint-Joseph this vintage. It includes around 7% Viognier and offers up seductive aromas of peppered stone fruit, raspberries and cherries. Medium to full-bodied, it's silky and succulent, with an elegant, lingering and lightly floral finish. It may not be the longest-lived Cote Rotie, but it sure is fun to drink.
-
Wine & Spirits
This is ebullient Côte-Rôtie, fresh and sappy, its red and purple fruit suffused with floral freshness. That freshness is encouraged by viognier co-fermented with the syrah; it’s also simply due to Faury’s light touch in the cellar, the wine aged mainly in large old demi-muid barrels. Supple but firm, the bright fruit is underlined with a cool granite feel that makes this feel as ageable as it is enjoyable right now.
-
Wine Spectator
Fresh and direct, with a racy, focused core of red currant and damson plum coulis notes laced with hints of savory, bay and rosemary. A subtle mineral thread weaves through the finish. Drink now through 2034.
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.