2011 Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde Domaine Rostaing

The 2011 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde saw 100% stems and a small percentage of Viognier. While I liked it a tad more last year, it showed beautifully here as well, with a perfumed, forward and medium to full-bodied profile to go with classic olive, garrigue and raspberry aromas and flavors. This is Côte Rôtie at its most refined and elegant, and it should be even better in another 2-3 years and evolve nicely through 2031.

Saturated ruby. Candied red and dark berries on the explosively perfumed floral, minerally nose. Stains the palate with intense blackberry and violet pastille flavors, gainingn depth and spiciness with aeration. Rich, energetic and graceful, finishing with superb clarity, power and fruit-driven persistence.

Shows savory and pepper notes out front, featuring a slightly rigid, cedary spine that holds the core of cherry, red currant and damson plum fruit together. Grippy, with a cedary twinge hanging on the finish. Best from 2015 through 2019.- J.M.