Domaine Clusel-Roch Cote-Rotie Classique 2013
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Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
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Wine Spectator
Still quite tight, with flecks of green olive and savory peeking out from the core of coiled red licorice, cherry preserves and damson plum coulis flavors. A racy chalky spine cuts through the finish, which has solid length for the vintage. Needs a little time. Best from 2018 through 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The inky, mostly opaque-colored 2013 Cote Rotie Classique is the most approachable and forward of the three Cote Roties; it is a blend of 97% Syrah and 3% Viognier that was 50% destemmed and aged two years in 15% new French oak. It offers outstanding notes of raspberries, currants, bacon fat, mulled spice and dried flowers. These lead to a medium-bodied, silky, seamless 2013 that comes up a touch short of density and concentration, yet makes up for it with charm, elegance and balance. Drink it anytime over the coming 7-8 years.
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Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
Rene's son Gilbert decided to continue in his father's winemaking footsteps and completed his enological studies in 1977. The domaine, however, was too small to provide income for two families. Gilbert consequently chose to rent some vineyards and begin producing his own wine, while at the same time helping his father both in the vineyards and in the chai.
When Rene Clusel retired in 1987, his vines were taken over by Gilbert. For the first time, the parcel inLes Grandes Places was bottled separately. Two years later Domaine Clusel became Domaine Clusel-Roch, incorporating the name of both partners, Gilbert Clusel and his wife Brigitte Roch. This also gave the domaine an identity of its own.
Today the property remains tiny: Just 3.5 hectares in Cote Rotie and 1/2 hectare in Condrieu. The chai, built in 1992 in Verenay, is attached to their house and just next to the house of Rene Clusel. Being on the side of the sloped hill of Cote Rotie allows Gilbert and Brigitte to take advantage of gravity and naturally treat their fruit gently by avoiding the usage of pumps at vinification time.
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.