There is Côte-Rôtie and Then There Is Everything Else

There is nothing like a good Côte-Rôtie. Along with Pomerol and Burgundy there is no more

collectible and aromatic wine. It just sends your nose into sensory overload. There is something about those slopes that just makes the Syrah grown there so intensely aromatic.
 
Christophe Pichon is a young up and coming producer, the kind Fass Selections loves to work with and easily the star of his Côte-Rôtie Lineup is the 2012 Christophe Pichon Côte-Rôtie "La Comptesse en Cote Blonde", which can be had for as little as $79.99 on the 3-pack. Compare the 2011 at $93 - the 2012 through traditional retail will be north of $100. The savings on high end bottlings at Fass Selections are nothing short of sensational. Not as sensational, though, as this gorgeous bottle of Cote Rotie. I was impressed with the '11, it was actually for me one of the top Côte-Rôties of the vintage, but young Christophe Pichon has outdone himself in 2012 by making the finest wine he has made yet. It has more depth, more concentration, purer fruit, more substantial structure than the 2011, plus an amalgam of black fruits and floral notes. Amazing minerality and earthiness line the intense concentrated vivid dark fruit flavors. Medium to full-bodied with a thrilling mid-palate and finish. The finish. Oh, that finish. The oak is perfectly integrated. So well integrated I had no idea there was any new wood at all. That is 2012 right there in a nutshell. The wines can handle any oak treatment and that is because the fruit is so beautiful and deep. These wines are deep. The aromatics I would classify as thrilling in that they scream like a Mimi out of the glass with violets, minerals, dark vivid fruits and a some nice earthiness. The 2012 aromatics are so pure and vivid and are surely higher quality than 2011. 2012 is on the level of 2010 and 1999 for this taster. The wine can be drunk now with a 3 hour decant and can last for 20-25 years in the cellar. Cote-Rotie, along with Hermitage is what you want to long age in the North.
 
This wine is from vines averaging 70 years old and from yields that are 35 hl/ha and it is all harvested by hand. Christophe took over from his father in 1991 and since than has taken this estate to the level that it is at today and with 2012 it looks like young Christophe has taken this estate to super-stardom. Jeb Dunnuck, a friend and the Rhone Critic for the Wine Advocate, gave the 2011 93 points, if points is your thing and the 2012 is way way better. For $80 a bottle on 3 this is an insane deal and disintermediation at its finest.
 
You get
 

• A very limited production artisinally made wine from one of the most sought after appellations in the world
• You are saving nearly 30% of the retail price, if and when it drops at traditional retail stateside.
• You are getting one of the world's great wines in one of the best vintages of the last 20 years.
• You are getting in on the ground floor for what is sure to be one of the top wines of Cote-Rotie for many years.  

2012 Christophe Pichon Côte-Rôtie "La Comptesse en Cote Blonde" - $84.99 ($239.97 3-pack) (LIMITED)