2017 Domaine Rostaing, Cote Rotie, Cote Brune

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The 2017 Côte Rôtie Côte Brune boasts the same knockout nose as the 2016, then layers all those herbal, floral, spicy complexities with jammy berry fruit. Massively concentrated, with a rich, velvety texture and a dry, tannic finish tinged with espresso and licorice, this should be another great Côte Brune from Rostaing. This wine comes from a parcel inherited from Marius Gentaz, which Rostaing replanted in 2000. Get in line now. When I arrived at the domaine, I went in an opened door and came upon René Rostaing, who was putting labels on bottles for shipment to the United States. I told him I had an appointment and he said, "Let me get the boss." We went across the street to the winery building, where he handed me off to his son Pierre, who is fully in charge of the winemaking now. He cranked the ventilation fan up to high so we could taste in the cellars, despite ongoing fermentations above. Following up on his exciting 2015s, both the 2016s and 2017s look similarly outstanding. He's releasing two additional single-vineyard wines (Côte Brune and La Viallière) from the 2016 vintage as an homage to his ancestors, with label designs from the past (Gentaz-Dervieux and Dervieux-Thaize). Of course, quantities are tiny, but not only are the labels retro-cool but the wines are damn good also. (JC)