2016 La Cote Pinot Noir
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Tasting notes
Very herbal, spicy and savoury on the nose. Plenty of green spice on the palate, very unusual in its herbal dominance. There is fresh and vibrant red fruit but this is secondary to the savoury, spicy elements. Quintessentially whole-bunch in style. (TP)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Tom Parker MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
90% whole bunch. Purplish crimson – not quite as deep as Bloom’s Field 2016. Really grippy but convincing. Layers of savour and masses of structure. Not nearly ready but definitely distinctive, and extremely long. (JR)
The 2016 Pinot Noir La Côte is lifted and very precise, with a more distinctly savory and red-toned profile than the other Pinots in the range. Bright acids run through a core of cranberry, blood orange, white pepper, chalk and mint. Readers will find a chiseled, beautifully sculpted Pinot that is all energy and precision. The 2016 needs a bit of time to soften, but it is super-impressive.
While several of the Domaine de la Côte wines were surprisingly expressive given their bottling a few days earlier, the 2016 Pinot Noir La Côte was the most reticent—and also potentially the greatest and most ethereal. It unfurls with coaxing to reveal a highest toned bouquet of raspberry, Griotte cherry, citrus zest and rose petal, followed by a silky, medium-bodied and multidimensional palate, with an extraordinary mineral, saline presence that is compellingly singular. The finish is long and tangy. While Parr and Moorman eschew such comparisons, it would be fascinating to pour this wine blind in a flight of great Burgundies.