Wine Advisor
Clusel Roch, Cote Rotie Les Grandes Places 2020
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Dark, bright-hued purple. Heady black and blue fruit, violet, incense and smoky mineral aromas are complemented by hints of licorice and exotic spices. Appealingly sweet and expansive on the palate, offering concentrated but almost shockingly lively black raspberry, blueberry, floral pastille, smoky bacon and fruitcake flavors that show sharp delineation and mineral- and spice-driven lift. Steadily building tannins give shape to the mineral-tinged finish, which emphatically echoes the blue fruit, floral and spice notes.
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.
