2009 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places

According to Brigitte Clusel-Roch, "what makes 2010 a special year was the perfect phenolic maturity of the grapes. There were no overripe berries, the acidity was fresh, and the fruit was extremely clean. There was hardly any need for sorting at harvest." She believes that while her own 2009s have a lot of tannins, "they're woven into the fruit so they don't seem extreme. By analysis 2009 is a very tannic vintage, but they don't seem like hard or over-structured wines when you taste them." She thinks that the best plan is to start drinking the 2009s after the '10s, "which are fragrant and very pretty, while the '09s have a richer character and can probably handle longer cellaring." (A Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, www.danieljohnneswines.com and www.skurnikwines.com; Charles Neal Selections, www.charlesnealselections.com)

Discussing the 2008 vintage, Brigitte Roch told me, "not only did you have to work like a maniac during the season to keep mildew at bay, you had to be very selective during the harvest and then yet again in the cellar, and have been willing to declassify or sell off any wine that wasn't up to standard. If you were brutally selective then you were probably able to make an honest, maybe even very good wine. But if you weren't willing to make sacrifices then you were finished." As of 2009 there will be a La Vialliere bottling; by single-vineyard Cote-Rotie standards, it isn't a small lot at 2,000 bottles.