2016 Cote Rotie La Vialliere
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Tasting notes
Saturated ruby. Highly perfumed dark berry, violet, smoky mineral, black cardamom and olive scents show excellent clarity and a touch of smokiness. Sweet, palate-staining blackberry and floral pastille flavors deepen slowly and take on a deeper licorice note on the back half. Rich but lively as well, finishing with firm back-end cut, fine-grained tannins and suave, impressively persistent floral and exotic spice notes.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Deep brilliant violet. High-pitched, sharply focused red and dark berry scents are complicated by licorice and potpourri accents. Energetic and precise on the palate, offering alluringly sweet black raspberry, floral pastille and spicecake flavors that deepen slowly with air. Silky, sappy and intensely floral on the wonderfully persistent, mineral-drenched finish, which is shaped by smooth, harmonious tannins. "This is always the most floral wine in the cellar, especially in fresh years like '16," Guillaume commented. He's got that right.
Wonderfully pure, silky and long, the 2016 Cote Rotie Vialliere features cherries and raspberries borne on an almost weightless flow. It should be an uncommonly elegant wine, even for Côte Rôtie.