2015 Cote Rotie Blonde du Seigneur

Bright purple. Smoke- and mineral-accented cherry and black raspberry aromas, with licorice and olive paste nuances adding complexity. Sweet, penetrating dark berry and floral pastille flavors are enlivened by a smoky mineral element and pick up a peppery quality with air. Fleshes out slowly on the clinging well-delineated finish, which is framed by harmonious tannins that blend smoothly with the wine's energetic dark fruit. There's impressive energy here considering the warmth on the vintage.

The 2015 Côte Rôtie Blonde Du Seigneur comes from three separate lieux-dits: Maison Rouge, Bassenon, and Lancement. Completely destemmed, it sees a whopping 15% Viognier in the blend and is brought up in 25% new French oak. With a ruby color and perfumed notes of black raspberries, crushed flowers, violets, and white pepper, it hits the palate with medium body, good concentration, fine, silky tannin, and a seamless texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. It’s a terrific vintage for this cuvée and will last for 10-12 years. The benchmark estate in Condrieu is unquestionably that of Christine Vernay, who pulls from the magical hillside of Coteau du Vernon located just behind her home. This is pure granite terroir and all three of her Condrieu come basically from this steep hillside. Christine prefers a slightly longer élevage on her Condrieu, with the 2015s being the current release. I’ll review her 2016s next year. In addition to heavenly Condrieu, she makes a terrific set of Côte Rôtie.

This historic domaine gets plenty of love for its Condrieu bottlings, but the medium-bodied 2015 Cote Rotie Blonde du Seigneur is a terrific red. Perfumed of violets and mixed herbs, loaded with compact purple raspberry fruit, it's tannic but ripe, with a long, velvety finish.