2013 Cote Rotie Reserve

I reviewed the 2013 Côte Rôtie Village from bottle last year (90 pts), but the 2013 Côte Rôtie Reserve was tasted from barrel. The Reserve cuvée didn’t disappoint this go around and there are roughly 800 cases of this deep ruby-colored beauty. It offers medium to full-bodied richness, bright acidity, solid concentration and classic notes of smoked blackberries, black raspberries, spice box, dried earth and tapenade. It’s going to need 4-5 years of bottle age and should have two decades of overall longevity.

(aged for 18 months in 20% new oak): Saturated ruby. Blackberry, cherry cola, Indian spices and potpourri on the deeply perfumed nose. Intense black and blue fruit liqueur flavors complicated by suggestions of candied flowers and cracked pepper. Finishes impressively long and appealingly sweet, with mounting tannins and lingering floral and blue fruit character.

30% new oak. No new oak after 12 months therein. Some whole bunch fermentation depending on the terroir. Côte Rozier had 100% for example. A total of 12 different parcels are still kept separate even in November 2015. This is a vague idea of the final blend. Pretty majestic on the nose. Sumptuous, ambitious fruit. Very youthful. But with excellent energy and potential. (JR)