Wines from Côte Rôtie

One immediately feels a bit warmer when reading the name. The “roasted” slope, after its unfortunate period in the 1970s, managed to return to being one of the most sought-after sites in the Rhône, thanks primarily to two men: Marcel Guigal and Robert Parker. The tireless pursuit of quality by the winemaker, combined with the impeccable intuition of the experienced taster, brought the AOC to the world stage. It is said that wines from the Côte Rôtie are always more feminine than those from Hermitage, and wine lovers naturally keep an eye on the prime parcels of Côte Brune and Côte Blonde. By law, Syrah can be blended with up to 20% Viognier. While only about 70 hectares of vineyards were worked in the 1970s, today 200 hectares of vineyards, on steep shale slopes, are under appellation protection. The Rhône river takes a turn here, near the village of Ampuis, so the steep vineyard terraces are oriented southeast, receiving full sunlight while being well protected from the cold Mistral winds. Guigal’s extremely limited wines from the single vineyards La Landonne, La Turque, and La Mouline are unquestionably among the finest wines of this AOC.

Directly above the village of Ampuis, the two top single vineyards, Côte Blonde and Côte Brune, stretch up the steep Rhône slopes. The origins of these AOC Côte Rôtie vineyards are said to have gotten their names from a lord named Maugiron, who bequeathed his estate to his two daughters, one blonde and the other brunette. The slightly northern Côte Brune is characterized by a higher shale content and iron-rich clay in the soil. This traditionally results in slightly more rugged and later-ripening Syrahs than their more charming and earlier accessible counterparts from the Côte Blonde, which grow predominantly on granite with sand and limestone deposits. Sought after and rare: the Côte Brune wines from Domaine Jamet.