Tasting Notes
Vinous 94
Bright red. Deep, youthfully brooding aromas of black raspberry, cherry, cured meat and botanical herbs. More serious than the Landonne, with more powerful, chewy dark fruit flavors and suave floral pastille, Indian spice and anise qualities. There’s an exotic Campari-like note here as well. Velvety tannins gain strength on the impressively long finish, which strongly repeats the cherry and herbal notes. This is Gevrey to the Landonne’s Chambolle, and built for the long haul.
Robert Parker 94
Showing beautiful richness and depth, the 2006 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde had a classic feel in its spicy, bacon fat and sweetly fruited personality. Full-bodied and voluptuous on the palate, with beautiful fruit and textured, it’s already hard to resist, yet I suspect will evolve gracefully on its balance and harmony. René Rostaing’s Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde is the smallest production of Rene’s three cuvees (Ampodium, Landonne and Côte Blonde) and comes from his roughly 1 hectare (roughly 2.5 acres) of holdings in the Côte Blonde lieu-dit. This vines here were planted both in 1934, and then later in 1970-1971. It’s the only cuvee to incorporate Viognier, and this variety makes up roughly 3-5% of the blend. While René destemmed more in the past, today, he keeps destemming to a minimum and aging occurs in mostly older demi-muid, with 15-20% being new. There’s a scant 500 cases in most vintages, and it’s certainly one of the Icon wines from the northern Rhône.
Anticipated maturity: 2014-2031
