PLEASE READ: The demand in France for 2015 Cote Rotie is just manic and Stephan isa very popular producer. I reserved a few cases but if demand exceeds that, I will not be able to get more after this week. I need to get my order in so please, if you are interested, let me know this week.Many of you have drinking the first of your 2015 Northern Rhones and the word is out: 2015 is a once in a lifetime vintage but specifically it is the best vintage in Cote-Rotie possibly of all time. I still have not tasted a Cote Rotie that is nothing short of leaving me slack jawed and in awe of their beauty. Almost every 2015 Cote Rotie is very good. The vintage is that good. If you start comparing it to 1999 like John Livingston Learmouth does below you are in very rarefied air.
"Having tasted the wines from their first weeks, the surprise was how fulfilled they were so early on - ample, long, with tannins usually a snug fit. Coherent rather than barely formed. After one year of raising, they are still in good shape, strutting their number with some peacock-like flair. Côte-Rôties are rich, resplendent, bear great quality fruit, and lean towards the south, perhaps a little like 1999. Their balance is very good, and they will live long." - John Livingston Learmouth
This is the first Cote Rotie offer and it was from a hipster somm/NY/SF favorite producer who is searingly hot at the moment. Today I am honored to offer a brand new cuvée from the famous Jean Michel Stephan, which is his 2015 Jean Michel Stephan Cote Rotie "Nature" for $69.99 a bottle on a 3-pack.
The aromas are redolent of red berry that is so pure you cannot believe it is not crushed berries versus fermented grapes. A hint of cardamom and clove as well. The palate has super concentrated red berry fruits, red currants etched with such fine detail it is not believable. God what a vintage. So supple. I think the large percentage of Viognier makes the texture like spider silk. The wine has ridiculous length and persistence. This is utterly classic Cote Rotie. It is very complex and powerful with such sick spice notes. The freshness and contrast to the insane amount of deep, fresh pure fruit is out of hand. This was the first crop harvested this year on September 5th. I think this will be best between 2019 and 2030. If drunk young this needs a major decant. But it is can be drunk.
The blend is 86% Syrah (with some of it being the awesome and OG Syrah clone called Serine) and 14% Viognier which is a very high proportion of Viognier and should tell you something about the startling aromatics of this wine. It's as I said before not even real. Please remember that Jean Michel Stephan uses zero wood and that is a shock to the system after hearing he used to work at Guigal. The Viognier and Syrah are from vines planted in 1994. Jean Michel calls it is his most precocious vineyard. It is sandy and above mica-schist, glacier remnant soils at Verenay. He ferments the wine by maceration carbonique and semi-carbonique and ages it in 2-6 year 228-litre oak casks for 12 months. This cuvee is much lighter ane more aromatically focused than the other 2015s.
Jean-Michel Stephan only has 8 acres and it is dominated by old vines mostly in the southern sector and he has planted much of the prized Serine, which is the ancestor of Syrah which tends to yield small tight berries. He uses no chemicals and is a disciple of the famous Jules Chauvet (Also Lapierre and Foillard amongst others) and also averages around 25 hl/ha yields for his entire production. This is VERY limited.
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