2011 La Rosine Syrah VDP

Brilliant ruby. Exotic, high-toned aromas of blackberry liqueur, apricot, pungent flowers and white pepper. Silky and seamless in texture, offering gently sweet, smoke-tinged red and dark berry flavors and a strong suggestion of spicecake. Shows no obvious tannins on the impressively persistent finish, which repeats the blackberry and spice notes. Stephane Ogier says that while he suspects that this wine will age positively for five to eight years, "it's to drink, really, while you wait for the Cote-Rotie to mature."

The 2011 Syrah La Rosine IGP, which comes from steep hillside slopes located around the town of Vienna, offers serious bang for the buck. Comprised of 100% Syrah, it offers impressive notes of kirsch, toasted spice, herbed meats and leather to go with a supple, beautifully fruited and textured profile. Up-front and already delicious, it still has the balance and density to evolve gracefully for upwards of a decade. One of the next generation of winemakers to come up through the ranks by working with his father, the young, yet talented, Stephane Ogier (who is one of the youngest vignerons in the appellation) has been fully in control at this brilliant estate since around 2003. Covering roughly 7 acres in Cote Rotie, there are new plantings just now coming on line, both in Cote Rotie and in the surrounding regions as well. In addition, they are in the process of building a completely new cellar located on the western edge of Ampuis. There’s lots going on here, and if you’re a young wine lover today, count yourself lucky that there are young vignerons of this caliber out there. Looking at the 2011s, these show slightly more linear profiles than the 2012s, yet both vintages possess fantastic purity of fruit and overall elegant profiles. Robert Kacher Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 239-1275

(100% syrah): Dark ruby. An intensely perfumed bouquet evokes black and blue fruits, olive tapenade and cracked pepper. This textbook example of northern Rhone syrah offers sappy dark berry flavors complicated by olive, floral pastilles and peppery spices. Suave and expansive wine with very good finishing clarity and persistence.