2006 Cote Rotie Les Rochains

Opaque purple. More brooding than the Cote-Rozier, with deep cassis, boysenberry, cherry-vanilla, licorice candy and violet scents. The dark fruit and licorice notes repeat on the palate, displaying a liqueur-like richness, with firm tannins adding back-end grip. The broad finish boasts a clinging sweetness. This has gained weight and power since last year and looks to be built for the long haul.

Very full and tarry on the finish, rich and leathery and rather more like Hermitage than Côte Rôtie. For those who seek mass. Pretty impressive. Stylistically different from the more feminine Côte Rozier. (JR)

Inky purple. Explosively perfumed bouquet of ripe blackberry and boysenberry, with sexy floral and mineral qualities deepened by exotic oak spices. Pliant, strikingly sweet, highly concentrated cherry and dark fruit preserve flavors pick up velvety tannins on the close. "This always has the most tannins of my wines, but they aren't typically hard," Christophe Bonnefond commented.