2018 Cote Rotie La Viaillere

From a site in the northern part of the appellation, the 2018 Côte Rôtie Le Vialliere boasts a deep, dense, mineral-laced style as well as full-bodied richness, classy notes of crushed violets and graphite, building tannins, and a great finish. Again, the purity of the vintage is front and center here. My guess is that it’s going to benefit from at least 5-6 years of bottle age. This was another power-packed lineup from the Rostaing Family, and you can’t go wrong with any of these new releases. The 2017s show the sunny yet also elegant style of the vintage and have beautifully polished, ripe tannins. These wines offer pleasure even today but do your best to give bottles 4-5 years of bottle age, especially the single vineyard releases. Looking at the 2018s, these are largely in the same style yet have slightly more concentrated, structured profiles. My money is on the 2018s requiring slightly more bottle age, but I’ll report on those from bottle this time next year. In addition to the Côte Rôties, don’t miss a chance to try the Languedoc and Collines Rhodaniennes releases. Both represent terrific wines as well as value.

One demi-muid. Probably won't be commercialised, as it is the birth year of Pierre's son so it will be kept at the domaine. Cask sample. Succulent bramble fruit with a seared-beef character and lots of meaty richness on the palate. Dry and fine and bright. (RH)

Highly perfumed dark berry, peony, smoky mineral and olive paste scents show excellent clarity and a hint of smokiness. Sweet, palate-staining blackberry and floral pastille flavors deepen slowly with air and take on a deeper licorice note on the back half. Rich, but energetic as well, finishes with firm, back-end cut on a persistent finish, which features fine-grained tannins and sexy floral, exotic spice notes.