2017 Cote Rotie Amethyste
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Tasting notes
Deep, glistening violet. Intensely perfumed, spice-tinged aromas of black raspberry, cherry liqueur and candied violet are complemented by a smoky mineral quality. Juicy and focused on the palate, offering bitter cherry, dark berry and exotic spice flavors that turn sweeter on the back half. Shows excellent definition and spicy lift on the long, energetic finish, which is framed by smooth, harmonious tannins. Made with 70% whole clusters.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Brilliant magenta color. Smoke-accented dark berries and cherry on the energetic, mineral-accented nose. Juicy and seamless in texture, offering sweet, nicely concentrated, spice-laced blackberry, boysenberry and floral pastille flavors that are underscored by a zesty mineral quality. Fine-grained tannins build slowly on a long, lively finish that leaves olive and floral notes behind. I like the interplay of savoriness and fruitiness here.
The 2017 Côte Rôtie Amethyste looks to be a brilliant wine in the making and might just surpass the 2016. This smoky, meaty effort offers lots of black fruits, violets, Asian spice, and Peking duck-like notes to go with a medium to full-bodied, firm, structured wine that’s going to require 4-5 years (or more) of bottle age. While Levet makes several cuvées (the La Chavaroche and Les Journaries), I was only able to taste their Amethyste release, which is a blend of all their terroirs on Côte Rôtie. Levet makes a classic, wild, old school style of Côte Rôtie that has tons of character.