2012 Cote Rotie
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Tasting notes
(all serine, from Chavaroche, La Landonne, Cote Rozier and Les Rochains; 100% new oak): Deep ruby. Potent scents of musky cherry pit, blueberry, licorice and bitter chocolate. Densely packed and appealingly sweet, offering smoky black and blue fruit, mineral and floral pastille flavors complicated by olive and cracked pepper. Finishes very long and spicy, with dusty tannins coming on late. The vines that provided fruit for this wine are all over 60 year old.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Coming all from the Cote Brune, the 2012 Cote Rotie is another promising 2012 from this producer. Possessing the classic Cote Rotie perfume of raspberries, olive tapenade, violets and tinges of bacon fat, this medium to full-bodied, supple and approachable effort has solid concentration and sweet tannin. Enjoy it any time over the coming 10-12 years. Proprietor Michel Tardieu makes a bevy of high-class efforts from throughout the entire Rhone Valley. While the focus here is on his Northern Rhone releases, I reviewed a number of his Southern Rhone bottlings in Issues 209 and 210. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661
60-year-old vines. Slightly dull plum-purple. The nose is not that fresh on this cask sample shipped to London – doubtless the wine straight from cask is much more impressive. Damson fruit and just a tad soft though there is muscularity on the finish. Firm minerality on the finish. (JR)