2012 Domaine René Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Ampodium, Northern Rhone

Starting with the 2012s, the 2012 Cote Rotie Ampodium, which is named after the Romain name for Ampuis, sees the most destemming (somewhere around 75% destemmed), comes from 13 different terroirs, and is aged in both demi-muid and older barrels (Rene only uses roughly 5% new oak for all his cuvees). It offers a pure, classical and yet supple profile, with beautiful, peppery and spice-driven aromas, as well as a core of vibrant berry fruit. It should be approachable on release, yet evolve gracefully for 10-15 years. 

91-93 points Jeb Dunnuck robertparker.com

A bastion of traditional wine making, Rene Rostaing (who previously worked in real-estate) has been working the vineyards of Cote Rotie for the past 40 years, yet didn’t really switch to wine full time until the 1990s. He now owns roughly 20 acres of prime terroir, spread across 14 lieux-dits and 20 separate plots (there can be multiple plots within a lieu-dit). Since 1996, he has produced three separate Cote Roties; the Classique (which is now label Ampodium), the La Landonne, and his personal favorite, the Cote Blonde. He has excelled in both 2011 and 2012. In addition to his superb Northern Rhones, Rene also releases a knockout, Syrah-dominated bottling from the Pic Saint-Loup region in the Languedoc. I’ll review those efforts in the upcoming Languedoc issue.