2005 Cote Rotie Cuvee Classique

The 2005s are intense, rich, structured, tannic, and backward. Like so many Northern Rhones, they possess considerable structure and tannin which gives the sense that the wines are going to age for a long time. Yet in the eternal struggle in a wine’s evolution between the fruit and the tannin, the tannins win out 90% or more of the time.The 2005 Cote Rotie reveals a much darker color than its 2004 counterpart. Sweet black cherry and cola notes are intermixed with some camphor, herbs, and spice. On the palate, the wine has a boatload of tannin in the finish. This will be one of the more backward wines Rostaing has made, needing 2-3 years of bottle age and lasting 12-15 years. P.S. The least expensive wine Rostaing makes, which comes from the Coteaux du Languedoc, is the 2004 Puech Chaude. A blend of 80% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre, and 10% Grenache, aged 50% in tank and 50% and barrel, it is a beauty and ideal for drinking in its first 3-4 years of life. 2004 is a classic vintage for Rostaing, who succeeded in a tough year in the Northern Rhone by performing severe crop-thinning measures during the growing season. Nevertheless, these wines are dwarfed by his freakishly rich 2003s and his beautiful 2005s, which he claims are “the best vintage I’ve made.” Importer: Manny Berk, The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484

Bright purple. Fresh, mineral-driven red berry aromas are clear and spicy. Snappy red fruit flavors display striking freshness and purity, with a very light tannic bite on the back. This has excellent verve.

Silky. Spicy, very heady, full and rich and great attack. Medium weight but very serious and correct. Much paler than the Gaillard examples. Already quite evolved and borderline ‘dirty French wine’ on the nose. Great freshness and purity of fruit on the palate though – real traditional Côte Rôtie – soft and feminine (stereotype). Round and gentle rather than sweet and oaky. But it might not pass muster with a technocrat. (JR)