Wine Advisor
Delas, Cote Rotie La Landonne 2009
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Another killer Cote Rotie is the 2009 Cote Rotie la Landonne and it's a bigger, rich, more opulent version of the 2010. Raspberries, chocolate, exotic flowers, violets and ample minerality all give way to a full-bodied, seamless, layered 2009 that has massive mid-palate depth and a monster finish. Raised all in new oak, it should be drinkable at an earlier age than the '10, yet have a similar evolution.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
As I reported last year, the black/purple-tinged 2009 Cote Rotie La Landonne is an extraordinary effort. Made in a more open-knit, exuberant, flamboyant style, it possesses many of the same characteristics as the 2010, but with silkier tannins and lots of glycerin, smoked meat, violet, black currant, licorice, pepper and charcuterie characteristics. With super intensity, a full-bodied mouthfeel, lower acidity than the 2010 and sweeter tannin, it should drink well for 30+ years. Another great negociant with significant vineyard holdings, and at the top of their game, is undeniably Delas, owned by the Louis Roederer/Deutz Champagne firm. Since they acquired Delas well over a decade ago, this firm has been under the management of Burgundian Jacques Grange, who has done an outstanding job producing a sensational array of wines. The 2009s appear to be their finest overall performances to date, and the 2010s are noteworthy successors in a more restrained, mineral dominated, crisper style. Jacques Grange did a fabulous job with his Cote Roties in both 2009 and 2010, the latter being a somewhat more challenging vintage in this appellation. The Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes (until the 2009 vintage, this offering was known as the Hermitage Marquise de la Tourette) is sensational in both 2010 and 2009. Three thousand cases of this cuvee are produced, and the wine is aged in French oak, 50% new. Importer: Maison Marques et Domaines, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Delas's two luxury cuvees are both candidates for perfection. As good as the single vineyard Cote Roties of Guigal, the 2009 Cote Rotie La Landonne, from a vintage that is slightly less successful in Cote Rotie than in the other Northern Rhone appellations, is a sublime wine. A dense blue/purple color is followed by aromas of blueberries, black raspberries, white chocolate, vanilla and a hint of spring flowers. The wine exhibits fabulous fruit intensity, a wonderful medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, not the structure or massive extract of the Hermitage cuvees, but beautiful elegance and purity. It should drink well for 10-15+ years. (Not yet released) Under the inspired leadership of winemaker/administrator Jacques Grange, who has carte blanche authority from the proprietors, the Louis Roederer/Deutz Champagne firm, Delas has been on a fabulous qualitative roll for over a decade. They have enjoyed some great successes, so it is hard to say 2009 may be the magnum opus of Jacques Grange, but it certainly looks fabulous. Importer: Maison Marques et Domaines, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque purple. An explosive, heady bouquet evokes red and dark berry preserves, incense, Asian spices and potpourri; you could scent a room with this stuff. Palate-staining raspberry and blueberry flavors are lifted by zesty mineral and spice notes and show outstanding vivacity and focus. Pure, energetic and sweet on the finish, which refuses to let up. Grange told me that the reason Delas doesn't make this wine every year--as in 2008, for example--is because we want it to be a truly great expression of Cote-Rotie or not to exist at all. If it isn't superb, it doesn't get bottled, period.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Dark purple. High-pitched and expansive red and dark berries and flowers on the nose, with an intense mineral quality and a strong hint of Asian spices. Smells like a very high-end Burgundy. Seductively sweet red fruit preserve flavors reach every corner of the palate and become spicier and livelier with air. A strikingly pure, perfumed Cote-Rotie that finishes with excellent clarity and a lingering floral quality.
About the Producer
The famous Drass Frère wine company was founded in 1835. Since 1996, the spirit and soul that contributed to the reputation of quality wines has been restored. At present, the Dras brothers have a total of 30 hectares of vineyards, 10 of which are in the Emmettage-Hermitage appellation, 2 in Saint-Joseph and the remaining 18 in Croze-Hermitage. The steep granite hillsides provide favourable growing conditions for the vineyards of the Hermitage appellation, which produces the best quality wines. The grapes are hand-harvested and the fruit is intact and not prone to premature crushing, and in 1996 the estate was renovated by replacing all the old stainless steel fermentation vats with 85 litre concrete vats, and the 2,500 litre old oak barrels were replaced by 600 Burgundy oak barrels. The renovation of the equipment has allowed the winery to separate the fermentation of different batches of grapes, set the fermentation temperature according to the needs of the different varieties, and to monitor them in a targeted manner. The winery uses the gravity artesian method in the vinification process, where the fruit is crushed and poured by gravity into the fermentation vats. After fermentation and pressing, the wine is decanted into oak barrels where malolactic fermentation takes place. The main grape variety is Syrah, but the estate also produces some white wines, mainly made from Marsanne and Viognier. The wines of the Delas Brothers include Domaine des Tourettes, Les Bessards, Seigneur de Maugiron and Francois de Tournon. Francois de Tournon, among others.
