Wine Advisor
Clusel Roch, Cote Rotie Les Grandes Places 2015
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the northern end of the appellation, near the estate, the 2015 Côte Rôtie les Grandes Places (40% destemmed aged in 25% new barrels) offers a more serious, backward, tannic style with notes of damp river rock, sappy flowers, and black and blue fruits. It’s not for those seeking instant gratification, but it is a terrific wine.
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Hugely tannic and downright unfriendly at the moment, the 2015 Cote Rotie les Grandes Places may come around, given sufficient time. Brigitte Roch says it "needs 15-20 years," and let's hope she's right. It's concentrated and intense, with black olive and plum notes that may carry it the distance, but I have to admit I have some doubts.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque ruby. Pungent aromas of ripe dark berries, olive, incense and smoky minerals develop a spicy nuance as the wine opens up. Lush and deeply concentrated, displaying excellent clarity to the sappy blackberry, boysenberry and spicecake flavors. Shows unlikely finesse for its brawn and finishes extremely long, sappy and smoky; building tannins frame the densely packed dark fruit.
About the Producer
Guillaume Clusel is the man behind a uniquely elegant style of Côte-Rôtie. In an area of the Rhône valley associated with powerful red wines, his Syrah is graceful and refined. The secret is his attention to detail. Guillaume picks early and by hand and uses around 30% whole bunch fruit in many of his cuvées. He has farmed his 20 hectares of vineyards organically since 2002, and alongside his coveted Côte-Rôtie vineyards, also grows Viognier on the terraced slopes of the hills of Condrieu, plus Chardonnay and Gamay in the warm, pebbled soils of the Côteaux du Lyonnais. Guillaume took over the domaine from his parents, Gilbert Clusel and Brigitte Roch, who put the estate on the map during the 90s when they invested significantly in the vineyards and the cellar. His signature wine, Les Schistes, is a classic Côte-Rôtie blend with a dash of Viognier bringing a floral lift to the Syrah and named after the south-east facing soils of his Northern Rhône vineyards.
