2010 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places

Brigitte Clusel-Roch describes 2011 as "a lot like 2004, but with more structure, so maybe comparable to 2007" and said that one should plan on drinking most of the wines before digging into their '10s and '09s."It's a year that emphasizes red fruit, flowers and minerals, so there's a more delicate quality, maybe a more classic look to the wines than with the '10s and '09s," she added.Speaking of the '10s, in her opinion "the year clearly eclipses 2009 unless you judge quality by size and weight of the wines."On the subject, I had the chance to re-taste the 2009 Cote-Rotie when I got back to New York; while it shows plenty of flamboyant dark berry character there's a touch of medicinal reserve and a gripping quality on the finish that makes me think it's best to let the wine rest for at least a few more years.

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)