Introduction

During some covid months, my dear friend and I have collected couple of old dreams - Jamet Cote-Rotie and M. Sorrel Greal Hermitage. Good thing is, that we did get 2010 and 2016 - both my very favorite vintages, famed as ones with perfect balance (I personally love 2010 much more than 2009 and 2016 than 2015). So we just added another loved producers from same vintages - Rostaing Ampodium 2010 and J. Barge Cote-Rotie Combard.

I had expectations about real balance. And wanted to assess the potential of 2016. We did Pop n Pour, then decanted the wines and tasted them in a about 10 hours period - yes, we do meet infrequently and we talk wine and philosophy of life a lot! Remains were finished together in the morning after the breakfast.

Closing

Just few quick summarizing thoughts:
- both 2010 & 2016 are amazing. Balance, freshness. And what 2010 proves a lot - this elegant vintage builds it's strength while maturing. So if you are afraid about 2016 longevity - do not! they bahave as good burgundy - become wider and wider with time.
- Jamet was big discovery and WOTN. Such balance, power and deepness of the ocean at the same time. And it still whispers the quality, so let it build it's wast complexity. I would wait for 10-15 years, even if it's very tasty now
- Barge and Rostaing - both great producers, making fresh wines that do nto become dull while maturing. If you like pure elegance - Rostaing might suit your taste bit better. Bit I adore spicy, stemmy qualities of mature Barge. 2nd day showed that we could expect that in 5-10 years.
- Hermitage is MUCH riper than Cote-Rotie, especially when tasted aside. So please consider this, thinking about your taste and future taste, as hermitage needs lots of time to open up (Sorrel was a baby and was fiercely fighting the TCA)