Always showing well, the 2011 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde has a perfumed, forward style as well as classic raspberry and blackberry fruits intermixed with notes of tapenade, flowers, and bouquet garni. It’s elegant, refined, and very much in the style of the 2011 vintage. Enjoy bottles over the coming 10-15 years.

The 2011 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde saw 100% stems and a small percentage of Viognier. While I liked it a tad more last year, it showed beautifully here as well, with a perfumed, forward and medium to full-bodied profile to go with classic olive, garrigue and raspberry aromas and flavors. This is Côte Rôtie at its most refined and elegant, and it should be even better in another 2-3 years and evolve nicely through 2031.- JD

Shows savory and pepper notes out front, featuring a slightly rigid, cedary spine that holds the core of cherry, red currant and damson plum fruit together. Grippy, with a cedary twinge hanging on the finish. Best from 2015 through 2019. 450 cases made. — JM