2012 Cote Rotie Lancement

Glass-staining ruby. Pungent, deep-pitched red berry and spicecake aromas are complicated by suggestions of smoky minerals and candied flowers. Juicy, focused and pure on the palate, offering vibrant raspberry and boysenberry flavors that put on weight and become spicier with air. Finishes with outstanding energy and persistence, displaying lingering spiciness and velvety tannins that sneak in slowly.

And we finished with the Stephane’s two classic Côte Rôties, the Lancement and the Cuvée Belle Helene. One of the top wines of the estate, the 2012 Côte Rôtie Lancement highlight the more elegant, complex and seamless style of Côte Rôtie. Giving up a sensational perfume of lavender, olive tapenade, violets and black raspberry fruit, it flows onto the palate with full-bodied richness, a seamless, silky texture, ultra-fine tannin and a great finish. I'd happily drink this rock star Côte Rôtie anytime over the coming 15-20 years.

Opaque ruby. An explosively perfumed bouquet evokes raspberry and mulberry preserves, incense, floral oils and smoky minerals. Sappy, palate-staining red and dark berry flavors are enlivened by zesty spice and mineral notes that gain power with air. Closes on a gently tannic note, with outstanding clarity and mineral thrust, leaving sweet red fruit notes behind. Ogier told me that this wine, which is in bottle, will be released in February of 2016.