Côte Rôtie Les Rozier, Domaine Christophe Billon 2018

Made from 100% Syrah and from a terrific terroir in the northern part of the appellation, the 2018 Côte Rôtie Côte-Rozier will spend a full 26 months in 50% new French oak. It offers a more complex, nuanced vibe, with lots of black raspberries, spice, new leather, and dried flower aromas and flavors. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, with a great mid-palate, integrated oak, and a seamless texture, it's another brilliant wine from this estate.

Full-bodied and concentrated with dark, brooding fruit, but crucially there's freshness here. Clarity of texture, some saline, grippy, lightly serrated tannins. It finishes long, with a saline, sappy grip. This has some serious character and muscle. Robust oaking, but it will swallow it in time to yield a highly impressive wine. 45-year-old vines on average (some up to 60-years-old), 30% whole bunch, fermented in stainless steel. Matured in 300l French oak barrels - 50% of which are new - for 26 months. Malolactic fermentation in barrel.Drinking Window 2026 - 2032

100% Syrah. Aged for 26 months in oak (50% new). Cask sample.Tasted blind. Straightforward black fruit, soft tannins, medicinal complexity on the finish. Powerful palate with decent length, but not much of Syrah's elegant aromatic potential.