Levet Cote-Rotie 2020
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The “house cuvée” is a selected blend from all the parcels that the Levet family owns. Produced in the same manner as “La Chavaroche” and “Les Journaries,” this bottling tends to be the most open and immediately seductive of the three versions of Levet Côte-Rôtie. This easiness is relative, of course, for this bottling still impresses. Levet’s typical smoky and savage character is here counterpointed by an elegant, floral, and wild-berry fruit.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the 2020s, which were still in barrel, the estate commented that this was an early vintage, and the wines are slightly less concentrated due to well-timed rains. The 2020 Côte Rôtie Amethyste showed beautifully, with an exuberant, perfumed bouquet of violets, cracked pepper, spring flowers, and raspberries. This medium-bodied, elegant, incredibly satisfying Côte Rôtie would be a great introduction for readers looking to understand the style of this terrific estate.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A prospective blend assembled from several barrels for my tasting, the 2020 Cote Rotie Amethyste—a blend of five lieux-dits—is dark fruited and plummy yet also vaguely herbal and wiry. In the mouth, it's medium to full-bodied, tannic but ripe, with a rich, silky feel and a long finish that echoes of blackberries and dusty tannins.
Barrel Sample: 91-93
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.