Côte Rôtie, Domaine Jean-Paul Jamet 2020

Opaque ruby. Vibrant blackberry, cherry, incense, Moroccan spice, potpourri and smoky mineral qualities on the expansive, seductively perfumed nose. Offers vibrant black and blue fruit, spicecake, olive and floral pastille flavors that show bright detail and energetic mineral lift. The floral and spice notes recur strongly on the youthfully gripping finish, which features mounting tannins and lingering smokiness. Drink 2030-2040.

The 2020 Côte Rôtie should be brilliant, and I was able to taste multiple barrels. This vintage was not destemmed and Jean-Paul isn’t dogmatic with stems, judging each vintage on its own and adjusting the amount of stems accordingly. The 2020 shows a ripe yet pure style across the board, with most samples being medium to full-bodied and showing plenty of oomph and structure. The stems stand out in a few of the samples, and the wines reminded me slightly of 2010. This is a powerful, structured vintage at Jamet, and readers will love to have these their cellars.

A combination of separate lieux-dits which show a classic, fresh and focused vintage, with each component reflecting its origins with great clarity. It's an aromatic style, with slight tannins and fairly low but balanced acidity. All whole-bunch fermented, matured mostly in old demi-muids.