2015 Cote Rotie Cote Brune

The 2015 Cote Rotie Cote Brune boasts beautiful aromas of violets, herbs and raspberries, but wow, is this wine tannic. It's full-bodied but closed down tight on the palate. It's possible to admire the structure now—the crisp, refreshing acids, the firm, chewy tannins, the incredible length of the finish—but this will need 10+ years to loosen up. Yet I've no doubt that it will be stupendous 20 years out from the vintage and last for at least a decade more.

Inky, bright-rimmed ruby. A deeply perfumed bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, incense, violet, olive and smoky minerals, with a sexy floral topnote. Stains the palate with densely packed black and blue fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors that become more energetic as the wine opens up. Displays outstanding power and definition on a remarkably long, incisive finish that's given shape by chewing, mounting tannins. Here's one for the cellar.

Cut from the same cloth, the roughly 200-case 2015 Côte Rôtie Côte Brune might just be the greatest wine ever for this estate. Coming from the broken schist soils of the Côte Brune, fermented with 100% stems and aged mostly in older barrels, this inky colored effort has to-die-for notes of blackcurrants, liquid violets, cracked peppercorns, and scorched earth. Incredibly concentrated and massively structured/tannic, yet also seamless and elegant, this beauty tastes like the blood of Côte Rôtie and is a profound, legendary wine in the making. Don’t miss it! Readers looking for classic, old-school, age-worthy Cote Rotie should look no further than the wines from Jean-Paul and Corinne Jamet. While 2015 is an incredible vintage for this estate, the 2016s are also some of the more impressive in the appellation.