Additional Info

Jean-Baptiste: “It’s the southernmost terroir in Côte-Rotie, in the Côte Blonde, touching Condrieu. We’re on sandy soils that produces very elegant wines. It’s a real côteau, with terraces, and grades of 60/65%. The vines are not very extremely old: one parcel is 15 years old, the other 35 (as of 2015). Age of vines is less important in the Northern Rhône since the roots have no choice but to plunge directly into the bedrock.”

www.Cote-Rotie.com: “To the south of the appellation, the Côte Blonde's parcels lie atop a substrate composed primarily of gneiss (and composite gneiss to the far south). Erosion created siliceous soils, light in colour, often with increased calcification due to the loess coating of the plateau. On the Côte blonde, and in similar locations, the clay soil or ‘arzel’ that results from erosion to this substrate is extremely crumbly and unstable. They cannot be cultivated without being held in place by a series of dry stone walls known locally as ‘cheys’.”

Paul Wasserman: “2014 Vintage: Violets quickly bow to faded rose petals, then licorice, then back to powdery rose petals, to pot-pourri, to peonies. On the palate this is classic sandy soil: it’s the elegance that is most compelling. The persistence in the mid-palate is soft and lightly chalky. Absolutely lovely, which is not to be read at all as inconsequential, but instead as fresh, graceful, aerial. This is no loud Côte-Rôtie. It is very persistent, but it’s all lace.”