2003 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places

Stephane Montez describes 2005 as "a vintage of dryness, with a low yield and lots of small berries. " The 2004s here are elegant and precise, prompting Montez to describe them as "excellent, with the balance to age but the freshness to be drinkable young. "Montez is now leaving his Cote-Rotie Les Grandes Places longer in barrel-now a minimum of 30 months-as he is intrigued with what Guigal has achieved with lengthy elevage of their single-site bottlings. The 2003 received 35 months of aging in all new oak. Incidentally, Montez is pleased with the results, but he calls 2003 "a vintage of heat" and feels that the wines will be best drunk on the young side. (Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, D. C. )

The energetic, inquisitive Stephane Montez is producing a range of deeply flavored wines from his scattered 15 hectares of holdings.He is willing to take risks in order to fully understand and exploit the qualities of his vineyards and is equally willing to apply what he has learned from stints in Australia and California (where he worked at Joseph Phelps).He also worked in England on the retail side of the wine business, so he has a keen understanding of the world wine market.For Montez, 2004 was most influenced by a "perfect September, which brought ideal wind, heat and sun."(Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, D.C.)

Stephane Montez told me that his fearsome-looking but good-natured Beauceron (a shepherd/guard dog resembling a cross between a Rottweiler and a Doberman) loves to drink wine, and that the dog consumed a couple of liters from Montez's last picking of 2004 Condrieu Vendange Tardive-with no ill effects. I'm sure the dog would also have enjoyed Montez's superripe 2001 Saint-Joseph Cuvee du Papy, of which Montez said "I had the impression that I was vinifying blueberries. The wine is more like syrah from Australia or California. "Montez told me he was the last to harvest in Saint-Joseph in 2003, because he was married on August 14, the beginning of the harvest, and did not return from his honeymoon until August 28. One disadvantage of the late picking:Montez will not offer a Grandes Places cuvee from the 2003 vintage, as he says the grapes were dried out by the time he harvested.