Tasting Notes
Vinous 93
Good deep red-ruby. Explosive, wonderfully sweet aromas of red berries, bacon fat and woodsmoke. Fatter, sweeter and more opulent than the Landonne, but at the same time finer-grained and even more intensely flavored. Today this comes across as less peppery and more fruit-driven. Very rich and very long on the end. Give this three or four years of additional cellaring.
Robert Parker 90?
Slightly reductive and herbaceous aromatically, the 2001 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde was better on the palate than the nose, with medium-bodied richness, integrated acidity and a silky, elegant and seamless texture. Given the herbaceous slant on the nose, this isn’t a bottle I’d squirrel away in the cellar and would opt for drinking it over the coming 4-6 years. René Rostaing’s Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde is the smallest production of Rene’s three cuvees (Ampodium, Landonne and Côte Blonde) and comes from his roughly 1 hectare (roughly 2.5 acres) of holdings in the Côte Blonde lieu-dit. This vines here were planted both in 1934, and then later in 1970-1971. It’s the only cuvee to incorporate Viognier, and this variety makes up roughly 3-5% of the blend. While René destemmed more in the past, today, he keeps destemming to a minimum and aging occurs in mostly older demi-muid, with 15-20% being new. There’s a scant 500 cases in most vintages, and it’s certainly one of the Icon wines from the northern Rhône.
Anticipated maturity: 2014-2020
