(95-97) From a great lieu-dit on the northern side of the appellation, the 2018 Côte Rôtie Côte Rozier is all Syrah and will spend 18 months in 30% new French oak. It offers a stunning bouquet of black raspberries, blueberries, crushed flowers, liquid violets, and spiced meat. Elegant, ethereally textured, with no hard edges, it's an incredibly sexy, beautifully balanced, full-bodied Côte Rôtie that's up with the top wines in the vintage.

Inky ruby. Powerful, spice- and smoke-accented aromas of fresh black and blue fruits, candied violet, licorice and cola, along with a hint of exotic spices that builds in the glass. Sweet, palate-staining cassis, boysenberry, floral pastille and licorice flavors turn livelier with air. Impressively concentrated but surprisingly energetic, courtesy of its spine of smoky minerality. Finishes sappy, youthfully chewy and extremely long, with steadily mounting tannins and lingering florality. 25% new oak. -- Josh Raynolds

(92+ points) The 2018 Cote Rotie Cote Rozier saw 30% new oak. It's a dark, concentrated effort, cedary and sweet-smelling, backed by notes of cola, grilled meat and plummy fruit. Full-bodied and rich, it ideally needs a few years in the cellar, although it's far from being undrinkable now—just a little coarsely textured. Retronasal notes of cherries appear on the finish—a good sign for future evolution. - Joe Czerwinski