Levet Cote-Rotie La Chavaroche 2019
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
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La Chavaroche Cote Rotie is aged for thirty to thirty-six months prior to bottling. It is, quite simply, a ferocious wine, unique in its uninhibited expression of the smells and flavors of the appellation. No compromise is brooked here. The result is a wine that is controversial, too "wild" for many but, for Levet, one of the most elite wines in their personal pantheon.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lastly, the 2019 Côte Rôtie La Chavaroche comes from a single lieu-dit in the northern part of the appellation, and it’s just about as good as wild, classic, traditional Côte Rôtie gets. Vivid purple, with an incredible bouquet cracked black pepper, violets, iron, bloody beef, and assorted red, blue, and black fruits, it has more obvious minerality than the slightly more rounded Les Journaries, flawless balance, and enough structure to warrant upwards of a decade of bottle age. The purity of fruit in all these 2019 is something to behold, and readers should seek these wines out.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The most impressive wine I tasted at Levet was the 2019 Cote Rotie La Chavaroche (known as La Peroline in most markets). Scents of crushed stone, bacon fat, violets, Asian five spice powder, purple raspberries and grilled plums make for a wonderfully enthralling and complex nose, while the full-bodied palate is concentrated and richly textured, leading into a long, velvety finish. Wow.
Barrel Sample: 96-98
Other Vintages
2020-
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb
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Dunnuck
Jeb
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Parker
Robert
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
The cultivation of vines here began with Greek settlers who arrived in 600 BC. Its proximity to Vienne was important then and also when that city became a Roman settlement but its situation, far from the negociants of Tain, led to its decline in more modern history. However the 1990s brought with it a revival fueled by one producer, Marcel Guigal, who believed in the zone’s potential. He, along with the critic, Robert Parker, are said to be responsible for the zone’s later 20th century renaissance.
Where the Rhone River turns, there is a build up of schist rock and a remarkable angle that produces slopes to maximize the rays of the sun. Cote Rotie remains one of the steepest in viticultural France. Its varied slopes have two designations. Some are dedicated as Côte Blonde and others as Côte Brune. Syrahs coming from Côte Blonde are lighter, more floral, and ready for earlier consumption—they can also include up to 20% of the highly scented Viognier. Those from Côte Brune are more sturdy, age-worthy and are typically nearly 100% Syrah. Either way, a Cote Rotie is going to have a particularly haunting and savory perfume, expressing a more feminine side of the northern Rhone.