2010 Côte-Rôtie La Belle Hélène

Stephane Ogier told me that he likes "the texture and the fruit of 2011" and, like a number of other growers, compares the wines to the 2006s, "especially in terms of the tannins." But the 2006s are riper, he went on, "so in a lot of ways '11 may turn out to be more like 2000, but with more power." Ogier's Cote-Roties from '11 clocked in at 12.5% natural alcohol, by the way, which is quite healthy, "but it took a lot of work, especially green-harvesting to keep the yield down, and you had to be patient and harvest late, too." Unlike most of his neighbors Ogier prefers his 2007s to his '11s "but it's early still, so maybe the wines will gain strength, but for now they're between 2006 and 2007 in quality." All that said, he singles out his Lancement bottling from '11 as "a huge success. It's always a feminine wine so it's successful in lighter vintages, when it can really show its character. If the year is too hot then the elegance can get lost, so '11 was great for it."

Stephane Ogier calls 2010 a terroir vintage, like 2007, 2004, 2001 and 1991, "while 2009 is a vintage vintage, where the growing season is more reflected in the wines than the vineyard." He pointed out that with a great 2011 in the making, "there's a trilogy of amazing vintages here that has never been achieved except maybe 1989, 1990 and 1991. Two in a row is considered lucky, but three?" Because 2009 is "a power year" Ogier says that he favors the Belle-Helene over the Lancement in that vintage, explaining that "Lancement does better in years with less heat, where its elegance is featured." Ogier showed me the 2009 Condrieu La Combe de Malleval again since it had just been bottled when I saw it last year. It is aging slowly and still dominated by its minerality, and displaying a touch more floral character than it showed 12 months ago. I think that I underrated it then and would now score it 92; it has very good upside potential.