Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
At once fresh and deep with excellent precision, this is a wonderful Cote-Rotie that leaps across the palate. Stacks of fresh forest berries, delicate pepper and red roses. The fine tannins build beautifully in the long, vibrant finish. Excellent aging potential. A cuvee of syrah from more than 20 plots across the appellation.
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Wine Spectator
A fresh red, with alluring blue and black fruit in a pure, clean style supported by a spine of iron that imparts power and precision. Offers an unadorned profile, with any hint of oak integrated way in the backdrop, showcasing violet details and mineral intensity on the clean finish. Still tightly coiled, with a taut feel to the finely polished tannins. This needs time. Best from 2026 through 2040. 1,800 cases made.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Leading off the reds from bottle, classic red and black fruits, spice, roasted herbs, and loamy earth all define the 2022 Côte Rôtie Ampodium. Medium-bodied, supple, and balanced, it has ripe tannins.
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Vinous
The taut 2022 Côte-Rôtie Ampodium reveals black cherry, red plum, crushed violets and a touch of cedar on the nose. Medium-bodied with concentrated flavors, the 2022 concludes persistently with an elegant 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.