2010 - Cote Rotie Ampodium, Rostaing

The 2010 Cote Rotie Ampodium is performing much better from bottle than it did last year. Fashioned from a dozen separate terroirs in Cote Rotie, it exhibits tell-tale notes of licorice, tapenade, black currants and black raspberries with a floral component in the background. Beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, rich and opulent, this superb Cote Rotie can be drunk now or cellared for 10-15 years. P.S. Readers should not forget Rostaing’s brilliant 2009 Coteaux de Languedoc Puech Noble, which received a score of 90 last year. I retasted it this year and rated it identically. It is a sleeper selection from Rostaing, and if you can not find or afford his Cote Roties, this wine (70% Syrah and the rest equal parts Mourvedre and Grenache aged in a combination of tank and older wood) is a brilliant 30,000-bottle cuvee that represents great value. Rene Rostaing believes the finest vintages in Cote Rotie have been 1971, 1991 and 2010. I would add 2009 as Rostaing made spectacular wines in that vintage, although I understand that for his personal taste they are at the limit of extreme ripeness. A perfectionist, Rostaing has made exceptionally strong wines in both 2011 and 2010. Importer: Manny Berk, The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484

Vivid ruby. Intense, spice- and floral-accented aromas of dark berry preserves, potpourri and Asian spices, with a bright mineral nuance gaining strength with air. Fresh and incisive, offering sappy black raspberry and boysenberry flavors and a sexy note of candied violet. Fine-grained tannins shape the long, juicy and penetrating finish, which echoes the floral note.