2010 Cote Rotie

Even better, with a classic Côte-Rôtie perfume of leafy herbs, lavender, flowers, and bacon fat that is intermixed with gorgeously pure raspberry and blackberry styled fruits, the 2010 Saint-Cosme Côte-Rôtie, aged for 15 months in 50% new French oak, is seamless and polished on the palate, and shows thrilling detail and clarity to its flavors and texture. Very long, medium to full-bodied, and perfectly balanced, this beauty will improve with short to mid-term cellaring, and drink well for 15+ years.

Bright violet color. Highly expressive bouquet offers blackcurrant and boysenberry, with sexy floral and spice nuances adding vivacity. Lively red and dark berry flavors pick up an exotic floral quality with air and show impressive clarity. Impressively vibrant Cote-Rotie with excellent finishing clarity and spicy persistence.

Several of the 2010s to look for in a year or so include Louis Barruol’s 2010 Cote-Rotie, which possesses plenty of black olive, black raspberry and cassis fruit, with hints of Christmas fruitcake, incense, and an almost exotic Asian spice note. Drink it over the next 15 years. (Not yet released) It has taken a while, but one of my favorite producers in the southern Rhone, Louis Barruol of Saint-Cosme, is getting very good publicity just about everywhere I look. It is certainly well-deserved, considering the broad range of wines he produces, from his inexpensive and over-delivering Cotes du Rhones and Vins de Pays, to his top-flight, world-class wines made in Gigondas. This is all a matter of hard work and understanding viticulture and great terroirs. As for the estate wines from Gigondas, 2009 was a more challenging vintage for Louis Barruol than many people probably understand, because he had some serious hail issues that cut into his Grenache crop. His best vintage to date is 2007, but 2010 is going to come close, and he has certainly excelled in a much more difficult vintage for him personally, 2009. The 2010s are probably Barruol’s greatest vintage since 2007, yet slightly more tannic and backward at a similar stage in their development than the 2007s were. All of the following wines are 100% Grenache, with the exception of the first two. Importer: The Country Vintner, Ashland, VA tel 804-752-3670 x160