2020 Cote Rotie
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Tasting notes
Still resting in barrels, the 2020 Côte Rôtie is a ripe, sexy beast of a Côte Rôtie, and Jean-Paul commented that he preferred the more classic style of the 2019. Don't let that scare you away, as this is a thrilling Côte Rôtie in the making. All of the samples exhibited a healthy purple color, intense aromatics, remarkable purity, and a more medium to full-bodied profile. This ripe, powerful vintage is going to require at least 7-8 years to shed some baby fat (and you'll be excused for drinking a bottle in its youth) but should still evolve for 20+ years. I suspect the 2019 might be longer lived due to its more structured profile, but it's going to be a treat following these vintages over the coming decades.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Opaque ruby. Vibrant blackberry, cherry, incense, Moroccan spice, potpourri and smoky mineral qualities on the expansive, seductively perfumed nose. Offers vibrant black and blue fruit, spicecake, olive and floral pastille flavors that show bright detail and energetic mineral lift. The floral and spice notes recur strongly on the youthfully gripping finish, which features mounting tannins and lingering smokiness. (JR)
The 2020 Côte Rôtie should be brilliant, and I was able to taste multiple barrels. This vintage was not destemmed and Jean-Paul isn’t dogmatic with stems, judging each vintage on its own and adjusting the amount of stems accordingly. The 2020 shows a ripe yet pure style across the board, with most samples being medium to full-bodied and showing plenty of oomph and structure. The stems stand out in a few of the samples, and the wines reminded me slightly of 2010. This is a powerful, structured vintage at Jamet, and readers will love to have these their cellars.
I have scribbles on seven different components of the 2020 Cote Rotie in my notebook, and that is just a fraction of what lies resting in the deep Jamet cellar. To generalize and predict what wizardry Jean-Paul Jamet will conjure out of bottle is a bit of a fool's errand, but overall, I found the 2020 samples to show ripe, dark-fruit flavors balanced by graceful aromatics. Generally, the wines are medium to full-bodied, with supple, silky tannins and good freshness.