2016 Francois Villard - Cote Rotie Le Gallet Blanc

The 2016 Côte Rôtie Le Gallet Blanc is another deeply colored wine from Villard. Made from 100% Syrah that was brought up in 20% new oak, it gives up exotic notes of blue fruits, crushed violets, ground pepper (even some white pepper), and exotic flowers. Fresh, elegant and seamless, with nicely integrated acidity, it doesn't have the power of the La Brocarde but is refined, elegant and downright silky. It's a beauty.

Villard's 2016 Cotes Rotie le Gallet Blanc features plummy fruit and roasted meat, swirled together in a medium to full-bodied wine that's already quite drinkable. Lush and creamy in texture, it picks up some brighter berry notes on the long, layered finish.

Opaque, bright-rimmed ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes black raspberry and boysenberry, incense, candied violet and smoky minerals. Intense, palate-staining black and blue fruit and floral pastille flavors are complicated by exotic spice and mineral notes that become stronger with air. Closes on a youthfully tannic note, showing outstanding delineation, impressive persistence and sweet dark berry notes that hang on tenaciously.