2013 Cote Rotie Ampodium

Moving to the 2013s, this vintage was described as "opulent" by Rene, which I found surprising, that is, until I tasted his wines. I was blown away by the quality here, and few other estates managed to get this level or richness and texture. The 2013 Cote Rotie Ampodium has an old-school feel in its cracked pepper, leather, violets, damp earth and sweet black raspberry fruit. It's medium to full-bodied, has notable tannin, yet ample depth, richness and length. This beauty will have 10-15 years of longevity.||This was another terrific visit with Rene Rostaing, and he's hit gold in both 2012 and 2013. In fact, he may have fashioned the wines of the vintage in 2013 and I was blown away by the depth and richness these showed. There are few people doing Côte Rôtie better than this guy. eRobertParker.com.December, 2014

The 2013 Ampodium bottling from René Rostaing, which readers will recall is his blended cuvée, is an absolutely classic bottle of young Côte-Rôtie. The bouquet is bright, precise and very transparent, offering up a marvelous blend of raspberries, pepper, spiced meats, stony soil tones, woodsmoke, a nice touch of stems and a topnote of violets. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and gorgeously soil-driven, but coupled to a very sappy core of red fruit, impeccable focus and balance, ripe, moderate tannins and great length and grip on the nascently complex and utterly seamless balance. This is utterly superb and will not need too many years in the cellar to start to drink with generosity. Nov 2016, www.viewfromthecellar.com, Drink: 2020-2050+