The Brothers Bernard: Rising Stars in Côte-Rôtie - Long Aged, Spectacular - Incredible Value
Five Stars from John Livingston Learmouth
I just visited Côte-Rôtie for the the first time and was blown away by the natural beauty and the unique steep sloped vineyards. Last time I was in Tain l'Hermitage, the great Christophe Billon visited me at my hotel and tasted me on all his wines so I never had the chance to visit. I visited him and then grabbed a bite to eat. I needed a wine with  lunch and saw a fairly priced 2010 Côte-Rôtie.
It was the 2010 Guy Bernard Côte-Rôtie "Bassenon," which can be had for as little as$49.99 on a 3-pack. This wine, make no mistake, blew my mind. I knew absolutely nothing about it. It was soft, but so ridiculously precise and has that2010 epic quality about it. Layers upon layers upon layers. Oodles and Oodles of O's to quote De La Soul. Suave tannins, power in its softness,terrific concentration and already showing terrific complexity. The fruit soak on the finish was remarkable. Just remarkable. One of those wines you drink and you are only taking about how high the quality is for such little tarrif. This wine is at the beginning of its drinking window and will last another 15 years.
Again - this is the 2010 vintage which Rhone tastemaker Georges Lelektsoglou thinks isthe best vintage since 1978. If you are going to stock up on Rhone wines for the cellar, this is the vintage to do it in.
So on the car ride to Burgundy I decided to some research. First, I sourced the wine, which was relatively easy. This was curious as this is 2010 Northern Rhone and still relatively hard to source, so I did a bit more research. It turns out that it is run by two brothers, Frédéric and Stéphane, who have greatly improved quality after taking over. While they are starting to get recognition in Europe, they are still unknown in the States and this offer is the only wine post-2000 vintage of the estate's available in the US.
Then I found out that one of my favorite Rhone critics, John Livingston Learmouth loves the estate and gave it five stars.
His review from 2012 is below. It is very similar to my impressions.May 2012 ***** "very dark, thorough robe. The bouquet is high grade - dense, but also clear-cut, comes with an oak-smoke air thanks to its oak raising. The palate has steel in its frame, has a tight cladding of tannin with a peek out of juice in its final stages. This has good quality sève or stylish gras, lovely quality fruit - smooth and tasty. There is some southern climes push or weight at the end - it is 13.5°. A lot of quality, a very interesting, formidable wine. Allow the oak to infuse - drink from 2015, say. 2029-31"
This is one of those serendipity offers that do not happen that often. Rhone lovers should stock up.
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