2011 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places

In Brigitte Clusel-Roch's opinion 2012 has "bigger tannins than 2011 and probably 2009 but nothing like 2010," which she considers one of the best vintages in a generation, "but only if you have patience."The '12s also have a good core of minerality, she explained, but it isn't showing yet because of the youthful fruit.She expressed more confidence than most of her colleagues in the aging capacity of the 2011s in general, because the wines "have lightness, yes, but with good structure, spine, shape and focus."Like the other growers I visited in November, Brigitte is extremely bullish on the prospects for her 2012 Condrieu, a wine that she thinks strikes "a classic balance of viognier fruit and floral character, with Condrieu minerality."