January 2024 Northern Rhone Dinner: Lifted on the nose with the palate red fruited and bright with a slight hit of savory smokiness. Very approachable right now and delicious (double-decanted before the dinner).
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Decanted for around 4 hours then drunk over several hours at dinner
Asphalt, bacon fat, olive tapenade, lavender, red and dark fruits on the nose. Less brooding and deep than the '11 Gonon served alongside it. This is structured, but delivered with softness and giving palate feel. With more air time the lavender and thyme grows. Certainly savory, herbal, and meaty more than fruit driven. As good as the flavors are, the winner her tis the texture and palate presence. It's supple, expansive and above all harmonious. A wine of with plenty going on, but also so easy to passively enjoy. Another delicious '11. A pretty seamless delicious wine drinking youthfully very well. Plenty in the tank for but it's pretty delicious already. A bit more on point than the Gonon tonight, but I suspect it will be eclipsed in a few years. yum and I wish I had a ton more of this.
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As good as ever. This wine has shown fantastically well since release. The nose is classic Bénetière, massively floral and peppery with a trace of ash. It's also very fine and elegant on the palate with terrific balance, pure red fruits and enveloping savoriness, just a joy to drink. This is in its early maturity and has years to go.
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Light and savory - tapenade, cured meats, pepper along with some dried cherry. Drinking beautifully and in the perfect drinking spot with some secondary flavor development.
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Delicious wine. Traditional Cote-Rotie showing green peppercorns, olives, animal blood, and iron. Very nice fruit that has a presence, but it not overbearing at all. I don't find this to be a lean wine (not to the extent of some 2014s for example), but it is clear from what is in the glass that this is not a solar vintage product...which is a big plus for many fans of traditional Cote-Rotie. Drinking very well now, but I imagine it has many, many excellent years ahead of it!
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A bit shy at first but opened up nicely over a few hours. Drinking well and leaner profile but showing some classic cote Rotie notes (olives, dark red fruits). Quite nice now and has a good future ahead of it.
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Decanted around one hour before we drank it over the course of another hour, during which time it went through three distinct, equally enjoyable phases: at first blood and iron, then red-fruit and pepper, and finally rich and meaty. Bright, refreshing acidity and powdery, resolved tannins were a constant, and made the wine a superb match for my venison. Despite all the savoury complexity, the wine was clean as a whistle. Delicious!
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Exquisite. Everything you hope for from the Cote Rotie at a great moment in its life with a bright future ahead. Integrated, elegant, this has it all and I was too fascinated to write down much more. My WOTN. Thanks, Chaz!
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Very nice. The savory notes from its youth have now added a burst of red fruit. Good acidity, and the tannins have been absorbed. The nose has developed beautiful florals. A lively and engaging Côte-Rôtie. A much different wine than what I had in 2014, though I noted then that it had great promise. I should add that this showed some reduction on opening, but it seemed to dissipate almost completely after about 30 minutes or so.
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Good god is this awesome. I’ve always liked this wine but it’s really firing on all cylinders right now. It’s open for business with a floral nose; intense, deep, brambly fruit that's so fresh it's almost crunchy; and a whole layered cornucopia of savory notes: meat, herbs, smoke, and blood. Yet for all the savagery, this is seriously polished Syrah—middleweight with refined structure and not a piece out of place. Reference quality and easily one of the best wines I’ve had this year. It will likely improve but it’s near apogee. Sadly my last ‘11 Cordeloux; I wish I could find more. Stealing at multiples of the release price.
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On the delicate end of the spectrum: red fruited, subtle tannin, stones, and a nice undercurrent of stems. Very elegant. If it didn't have some pepper, yep, one could reasonably think it was a meatier Burgundy. Loved it.
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Tasted blind. Red fruit, leather, pepper, bacon, violets, and smoke on the nose. Tart fruit and olives on the palate with good structure from medium+ tannins. Long finish. Great wine! Will certainly improve with age, but nothing wrong with drinking it right now.
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PnPed. Gorgeous nose of deep and crunchy fruits, savory herbal, minerals. There are hints of olives or brine at points but mostly this really comes down as Burgundian. The palate is fresh and deep, fresh, crunchy savory red fruits, perfumed and delicious. Still has years to develop on the palate. Strawberry and dark cherry, rocks. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 16-17/20.
Blind Jan 3rd (Wu's Wonton King): served blind and had all fooled. Tasted like a lovely bottle of burgundy. Very pure cherry notes. Not a powerhouse wine, quite feminine. I like this a lot. I think I wouldn't much longer on this wine though.
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A quick decant. A very nice and classically elegant Cote Rotie. Medium perfume of black fruit, olive and smoked meat. Palate is so elegant and easy drinking in this vintage. A burg lovers Syrah, for sure.
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Still very very young. Needs at least an hour decant. Starts out with blackberry and violets. After some time there is tobacco and leather, and finished off with a bit of white pepper and olive. Medium weight but dense flavors. Clearly very good, but I would give this 3-5 years before really starting to drink well and it will go on for a long time after that.
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Still early days for this, and it was also served at a rather cold room temperature. That being said, it was still classic Côte Rôtie, with lots of bacon aromas to go along with rare beef and warm herbal tones. I’m not sure it really shows any kind of fruit, but it has excellent depth on the palate. Focusing on it a little more, and it’s more like a tart cherry fruit, but it’s a support to the savory elements of the wine.
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Had a glass on the second day of opening. Very elegant on both the nose and the palate, very floral on the nose with dark roses, violet, purple tulips, along with gentle yet seductive Asian spices sensation, on the palate, red purple berries, fresh flowers, minerals, modest spices, rosemary, and great lingering acidity, medium body with good structure.
Background from drinkrhone.com: 94-95% Syrah, 5-6% Viognier from 95-100% Le Corps de Loup and 0-5% Côte Brune, whole bunch fermentation, 2 week vinification, wild yeasts, 4 daily pumping overs, aged 20% new, 80% 1-4 years old 228-litre oak casks 18-20 months, modest sulfur, unfiltered, 4,000-5,000 bottles.
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Nose is floral with cured meat, olive, stems, blue and black fruit and minerals. Although the wine is young, the palate is silky and elegant with very nice grip. The acidity in the backdrop provides a good balance for the wine. 92-93
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Double decanted. Notes from 1.5 hrs open. Wow, one of the most compelling young cote rotie's I've had. Just beautiful nose, showed a hint of reduction at first, but that blew off...followed by soft gaminess and deep red fruit, and olive brine. On the palate, excellent acidity, and loads of bright red fruit...not dense and thick, but dense and weightless. Real tannin on the finish. Would love to see this in a few years, but, alas, this is my only bottle.
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This was very youthful and rather closed, even after hours of decanting. On day 2, it's a bit more friendly with savory, dusty red fruit and some capsicum, paprika notes. Some ashtray too, however. I love 2011 in northern Rhone (particularly Jamet), but this was not a great showing. There's plenty of smoke, pepper and meat, but it seems to lacks a bit of ripeness and sweet fruit. Will wait 2-3 years before trying another bottle.
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Cracked a bottle so that my Dad could try his first Benetiere (he's bought enough of it, that's for sure.) What a great showing. I mean, WOW. Dark red and blue fruits: Black cherry and blackberry, a deep savory perfume, almost a bit musky, with Roses, violets, spices, and a bit of meat and pepper. With time, the Benetiere stems and green comes out - well integrated with the other flavors. The palate is young, to be sure, but it has great full flavors now, along with a energy and drive that makes it feel quite light. The balance on this is superb - great focus. Everything is perfectly in place. Fine tannins and substantial acid give this fairly solid structure. It's got dark fruits, some florals, spice and a serious savory note - not quite olives, or smoked meat, but something like that. The savory and red/dark fruits carry into the beautiful finish: long, energetic and full flavored. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5+/6, Finsh - 5.5+/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17.5/20.
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A solid Côte-Rôtie from 2011. This is obviously a bit young to drink, as it's fairly primary. It took a little time in the glass to get interesting, as this wine requires aeration to unwind. Black cherry, licorice, pepper, and espresso dominate the aromatics. A lot of density and weight on the palate, and also a bit tannic as well. Finish has very good length. Very good potential with this wine, and should develop nicely.
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Great showing. Young, but already compelling with saline, floral, and lightly meaty elements framing a core of fresh red fruits and black olives. A silken palate presence, even though there's some fine grained tannin lingering on the back end. Superb.
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The bouquet opened with an intense mix of ripe blue and black fruits, and slowly evolved to reveal layers of savory herbs, smoke, white pepper, and crushed stone. On the palate, I found medium-bodied textures ushering in a wave of saline-minerality, followed by notes of tart wild berry, and peppery herbal tones. Light tannin provided grip, contrasting zesty acidity, as this finished fresh with a lasting thrust of salinity, bitter inner florals and hints of game.
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After nearly 25 years of serious wine drinking it takes a special wine to stop me in my tracks. That is exactly what happened on my first sip of the Bénetière Côte Rôtie. It's an essence of all the things I look for from the appellation, ranging from floral to fruit to stone, with all the meat and smoke elements that make Côte Rôtie such a fascinating wine to drink. It's quite coiled up, which makes sense given the age of the wine. Following it over about 4 hours gave the opportunity to have it soften aromatically, but it remained quite firm on the palate the entire time. I've never had an aged wine from this producer, but all the signs point towards a positive evolution over the medium to long haul.
PnP. Consistent with previous notes. Pure and elegant, almost like a burgundy. Very fine with some spicy/savoury notes on the back end. Worth seeking out. Approachable now but will improve over the next 5yrs.
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Decanted for an hour and drunk over the following 2hrs. This is a very impressive young cote rotie. A lifted, sweet red fruit bouquet which is strikingly burgundian. Very vibrant fruitiness on the palate gives this wine a real sense of energy and freshness. Controlled power here. Only very slight letdown is the finish which fades a little too quickly. This will definitely improve with a couple of years but it is deliciously drinkable right now with a bit of air. Very good value and I'm considering buying another case of this. Additional note: Recorked about one third of the bottle and drank 2 days later. Showed some evolution, esp on the nose but the wine was still amazingly fresh and robust.
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One of the better young wines I've had recently. Bright red and brambly fruits are framed by smoke, iron, and earth. The fruit is concentrated, but it's not the star. Super floral nose of violets. Bright acids and serious structure -- but the tannins are so fine and the raw material so bold, this is a joy to drink even in youth. Real energy to this wine. Only gets better with air. I'll be looking for more.
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Initially shows dark blue/violet fruit and then some red fruit emerges. Palate is nice and focused, no young puppy fat here although it's still very primary of course. I'm not getting much obvious tannin here, but the acidity is huge. My first experience with this producer that gets plenty of praise on the wine boards. I was shocked to see some wine left in the bottle three nights later, sitting on my kitchen counter, and not only was there was no degradation, but it was good. L'Apicio with Zack and Jeremy.
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The fruit here is of the purple berry type, almost carbonic with its freshness, and it's really quite pretty, but the emphasis isn't really on the fruit, it's on the other stuff: the florals and meat and spice and earth, which continue straight through the midpalate, with a big lick of meaty spice on the finish. The tannins are fine-grained but sneaky and without food a bit drying, and there's plenty of acidity. I suspect there's some brett here, but this is one of the few cases where I didn't mind. This is old-school in flavor profile but without the rough, rustic tannins.
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Drank over 5 hrs and didn't change from the first sip. Classic Northern Rhone that is sappy and very open. Not a serious wine or one to cellar but very tasty.
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Decanted for three hours. The nose is very much on the savory rather than fruity side, with lots of herbs, meat and some smoke, then some spice comes into play. Glides across the palate with a very silky texture, with fine-grained (though substantial) tannins, and it's quite stemmy; decent structure, but with a fleshy side to it. Later the dark florals (violets) make an appearance, along with some peat. The nose on this wine is truly remarkable, offering a panoply of ever-changing aromas. Right now the pleasure is clearly found in the nose rather than the palate, but this is a serious wine which I hope will be terrific given another ten years, or so -- really depends on the structure, and the acidity seems just a tad low.
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Zak brought this as well. Whoo-hoo! Really, old school, crunchy, stemmy, exuberant, berries, green. Crisp and clear on the palate - stems, green - chewy, small berries, delicious. Lean finish with fruit and stone. This is not as fruity and forward as the previous time with this wine, but it's still great. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 16.5-17/20.
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Very bright, red color. Entirely primary black fruit with some very faint meaty notes. However, there was a weird note that I could neither enjoy nor stop focusing on, that reminded me a bit of an extracted Beaujolais.
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Nothing new to add to earlier impressions. Young, primary, and very stemmy right now, but already showing great complexity and polish. Compelling now but gives the impression it'll be absolutely spectacular with time in the cellar. Glad I went long on this.
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Very dark with textbook Syrah nose of violets, plums, smoked meat. Inky and deep with a crunchy stem/cluster note. Good concentration. Sweet on the palate with great fruit, but medium bodied and balanced - not heavy at all. Perfumed with violets and smoked meat again. Really clean, not super acidic, but beautiful. Forgot all these Parkerized, over-the-top Cote Roties - this is the real deal. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 16.5-17/20.
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Consistent with the bottle I had a month ago. Just a fantastic, elegant and pure wine with classic stemmy, briny, smoky and other savoury Côte-Rôtie flavours on a very polished frame. The aromatics keep expanding and developing more nuance with air, and even though it's incredibly young, there's great depth here and a silken texture that makes it very easy to drink. Thanks Z!
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Another Saturday at Domaine (Domaine Wine Storage - Chicago, IL): A very fine syrah. Tasted blind, there's no chance I would have thought this was Cote Rotie. It didn't have the meaty, earthy edge that Cote Roties can have...and smelled more like a really dank Cru Beaujolais.
Its palate was edgy, dark and wonderfully snappy. Doesn't have the body you'd expect from a Cote Rotie but it has a lot more acidity and balance. Will be interesting to see what happens to this with age.
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Another stunner from Benetiere. Like the '10, it's already remarkably complex, fragrant and accessible right away with an aroma combining high toned stemmy/herbal elements with more savoury briny, olive, smoky and meaty notes, and beneath it all is a core of incredibly pure red and dark fruited flavours. The palate presence here is quite remarkable, the tannin's incredibly fine grained and gives it a very polished, elegant mouthfeel while a lot of the structure seems to come from the acidity, which keeps it very light on its feet. Fantastic balance and length, and I'm glad I own more of these.
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1/26/2024 - ylkim30 Likes this wine:
January 2024 Northern Rhone Dinner: Lifted on the nose with the palate red fruited and bright with a slight hit of savory smokiness. Very approachable right now and delicious (double-decanted before the dinner).
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12/28/2023 - cweiss wrote:
Xmas dinner with K&G&B. Decanted about two hours. Wonderful nose that screams NRhone Syrah. Drinking extremely well. Thanks Trung.
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12/3/2023 - cct wrote: 95 Points
Decanted for around 4 hours then drunk over several hours at dinner
Asphalt, bacon fat, olive tapenade, lavender, red and dark fruits on the nose. Less brooding and deep than the '11 Gonon served alongside it. This is structured, but delivered with softness and giving palate feel. With more air time the lavender and thyme grows. Certainly savory, herbal, and meaty more than fruit driven. As good as the flavors are, the winner her tis the texture and palate presence. It's supple, expansive and above all harmonious. A wine of with plenty going on, but also so easy to passively enjoy. Another delicious '11. A pretty seamless delicious wine drinking youthfully very well. Plenty in the tank for but it's pretty delicious already. A bit more on point than the Gonon tonight, but I suspect it will be eclipsed in a few years. yum and I wish I had a ton more of this.
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10/1/2023 - Chomsky wrote:
As good as ever. This wine has shown fantastically well since release. The nose is classic Bénetière, massively floral and peppery with a trace of ash. It's also very fine and elegant on the palate with terrific balance, pure red fruits and enveloping savoriness, just a joy to drink. This is in its early maturity and has years to go.
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9/23/2023 - mattyboy_ Likes this wine: 92 Points
Light and savory - tapenade, cured meats, pepper along with some dried cherry. Drinking beautifully and in the perfect drinking spot with some secondary flavor development.
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8/6/2023 - Blair Curtis wrote: 93 Points
Delicious wine. Traditional Cote-Rotie showing green peppercorns, olives, animal blood, and iron. Very nice fruit that has a presence, but it not overbearing at all. I don't find this to be a lean wine (not to the extent of some 2014s for example), but it is clear from what is in the glass that this is not a solar vintage product...which is a big plus for many fans of traditional Cote-Rotie. Drinking very well now, but I imagine it has many, many excellent years ahead of it!
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5/25/2023 - godx wrote: 92 Points
A bit shy at first but opened up nicely over a few hours. Drinking well and leaner profile but showing some classic cote Rotie notes (olives, dark red fruits). Quite nice now and has a good future ahead of it.
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5/13/2023 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 95 Points
Meaty, elegant and pretty. Detailed and elegant fruit balanced with lovely acidity.
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10/18/2022 - NickA Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted around one hour before we drank it over the course of another hour, during which time it went through three distinct, equally enjoyable phases: at first blood and iron, then red-fruit and pepper, and finally rich and meaty. Bright, refreshing acidity and powdery, resolved tannins were a constant, and made the wine a superb match for my venison. Despite all the savoury complexity, the wine was clean as a whistle. Delicious!
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3/20/2022 - Neecies Likes this wine:
Exquisite. Everything you hope for from the Cote Rotie at a great moment in its life with a bright future ahead. Integrated, elegant, this has it all and I was too fascinated to write down much more. My WOTN. Thanks, Chaz!
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2/26/2022 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 96 Points
Beautiful aromatics right away, this was singing immediately out of the bottle. So elegant and pretty!
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6/12/2021 - Eric wrote:
ESTG pandemic breaker: Olive, olive, and more olive. Painfully young but super serious Syrah.
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12/31/2020 - xwine wrote:
Very nice. The savory notes from its youth have now added a burst of red fruit. Good acidity, and the tannins have been absorbed. The nose has developed beautiful florals. A lively and engaging Côte-Rôtie. A much different wine than what I had in 2014, though I noted then that it had great promise. I should add that this showed some reduction on opening, but it seemed to dissipate almost completely after about 30 minutes or so.
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9/7/2020 - rc@ughey wrote: 95 Points
Good god is this awesome. I’ve always liked this wine but it’s really firing on all cylinders right now. It’s open for business with a floral nose; intense, deep, brambly fruit that's so fresh it's almost crunchy; and a whole layered cornucopia of savory notes: meat, herbs, smoke, and blood. Yet for all the savagery, this is seriously polished Syrah—middleweight with refined structure and not a piece out of place. Reference quality and easily one of the best wines I’ve had this year. It will likely improve but it’s near apogee. Sadly my last ‘11 Cordeloux; I wish I could find more. Stealing at multiples of the release price.
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7/18/2020 - rhit wrote:
On the delicate end of the spectrum: red fruited, subtle tannin, stones, and a nice undercurrent of stems. Very elegant. If it didn't have some pepper, yep, one could reasonably think it was a meatier Burgundy. Loved it.
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6/1/2020 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted blind. Red fruit, leather, pepper, bacon, violets, and smoke on the nose. Tart fruit and olives on the palate with good structure from medium+ tannins. Long finish. Great wine! Will certainly improve with age, but nothing wrong with drinking it right now.
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2/1/2020 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 93 Points
PnPed. Gorgeous nose of deep and crunchy fruits, savory herbal, minerals. There are hints of olives or brine at points but mostly this really comes down as Burgundian. The palate is fresh and deep, fresh, crunchy savory red fruits, perfumed and delicious. Still has years to develop on the palate. Strawberry and dark cherry, rocks. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 16-17/20.
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1/3/2020 - lolo66 wrote: 93 Points
Blind Jan 3rd (Wu's Wonton King): served blind and had all fooled. Tasted like a lovely bottle of burgundy. Very pure cherry notes. Not a powerhouse wine, quite feminine. I like this a lot. I think I wouldn't much longer on this wine though.
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6/19/2019 - Nanda wrote: 92 Points
A quick decant. A very nice and classically elegant Cote Rotie. Medium perfume of black fruit, olive and smoked meat. Palate is so elegant and easy drinking in this vintage. A burg lovers Syrah, for sure.
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2/17/2019 - acidqueen wrote: 92 Points
Still very very young. Needs at least an hour decant. Starts out with blackberry and violets. After some time there is tobacco and leather, and finished off with a bit of white pepper and olive. Medium weight but dense flavors. Clearly very good, but I would give this 3-5 years before really starting to drink well and it will go on for a long time after that.
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1/12/2019 - Rieslingfan wrote:
Still early days for this, and it was also served at a rather cold room temperature. That being said, it was still classic Côte Rôtie, with lots of bacon aromas to go along with rare beef and warm herbal tones. I’m not sure it really shows any kind of fruit, but it has excellent depth on the palate. Focusing on it a little more, and it’s more like a tart cherry fruit, but it’s a support to the savory elements of the wine.
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12/25/2018 - Ms. Bubblehead Likes this wine:
Had a glass on the second day of opening. Very elegant on both the nose and the palate, very floral on the nose with dark roses, violet, purple tulips, along with gentle yet seductive Asian spices sensation, on the palate, red purple berries, fresh flowers, minerals, modest spices, rosemary, and great lingering acidity, medium body with good structure.
Background from drinkrhone.com:
94-95% Syrah, 5-6% Viognier from 95-100% Le Corps de Loup and 0-5% Côte Brune, whole bunch fermentation, 2 week vinification, wild yeasts, 4 daily pumping overs, aged 20% new, 80% 1-4 years old 228-litre oak casks 18-20 months, modest sulfur, unfiltered, 4,000-5,000 bottles.
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6/8/2018 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nose is floral with cured meat, olive, stems, blue and black fruit and minerals. Although the wine is young, the palate is silky and elegant with very nice grip. The acidity in the backdrop provides a good balance for the wine. 92-93
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1/19/2018 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Double decanted. Notes from 1.5 hrs open. Wow, one of the most compelling young cote rotie's I've had. Just beautiful nose, showed a hint of reduction at first, but that blew off...followed by soft gaminess and deep red fruit, and olive brine. On the palate, excellent acidity, and loads of bright red fruit...not dense and thick, but dense and weightless. Real tannin on the finish. Would love to see this in a few years, but, alas, this is my only bottle.
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11/3/2017 - 5laton wrote:
This was very youthful and rather closed, even after hours of decanting.
On day 2, it's a bit more friendly with savory, dusty red fruit and some capsicum, paprika notes. Some ashtray too, however.
I love 2011 in northern Rhone (particularly Jamet), but this was not a great showing. There's plenty of smoke, pepper and meat, but it seems to lacks a bit of ripeness and sweet fruit. Will wait 2-3 years before trying another bottle.
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7/2/2017 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 95 Points
Cracked a bottle so that my Dad could try his first Benetiere (he's bought enough of it, that's for sure.) What a great showing. I mean, WOW. Dark red and blue fruits: Black cherry and blackberry, a deep savory perfume, almost a bit musky, with Roses, violets, spices, and a bit of meat and pepper. With time, the Benetiere stems and green comes out - well integrated with the other flavors. The palate is young, to be sure, but it has great full flavors now, along with a energy and drive that makes it feel quite light. The balance on this is superb - great focus. Everything is perfectly in place. Fine tannins and substantial acid give this fairly solid structure. It's got dark fruits, some florals, spice and a serious savory note - not quite olives, or smoked meat, but something like that. The savory and red/dark fruits carry into the beautiful finish: long, energetic and full flavored. Nose - 5.5/6, Palate - 5+/6, Finsh - 5.5+/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17.5/20.
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3/21/2017 - DrinkBordeaux wrote: 92 Points
A solid Côte-Rôtie from 2011. This is obviously a bit young to drink, as it's fairly primary. It took a little time in the glass to get interesting, as this wine requires aeration to unwind. Black cherry, licorice, pepper, and espresso dominate the aromatics. A lot of density and weight on the palate, and also a bit tannic as well. Finish has very good length. Very good potential with this wine, and should develop nicely.
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3/1/2017 - salil wrote: 93 Points
Great showing. Young, but already compelling with saline, floral, and lightly meaty elements framing a core of fresh red fruits and black olives. A silken palate presence, even though there's some fine grained tannin lingering on the back end. Superb.
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12/21/2016 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 91 Points
The bouquet opened with an intense mix of ripe blue and black fruits, and slowly evolved to reveal layers of savory herbs, smoke, white pepper, and crushed stone. On the palate, I found medium-bodied textures ushering in a wave of saline-minerality, followed by notes of tart wild berry, and peppery herbal tones. Light tannin provided grip, contrasting zesty acidity, as this finished fresh with a lasting thrust of salinity, bitter inner florals and hints of game.
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6/5/2016 - Rieslingfan wrote:
After nearly 25 years of serious wine drinking it takes a special wine to stop me in my tracks. That is exactly what happened on my first sip of the Bénetière Côte Rôtie. It's an essence of all the things I look for from the appellation, ranging from floral to fruit to stone, with all the meat and smoke elements that make Côte Rôtie such a fascinating wine to drink. It's quite coiled up, which makes sense given the age of the wine. Following it over about 4 hours gave the opportunity to have it soften aromatically, but it remained quite firm on the palate the entire time. I've never had an aged wine from this producer, but all the signs point towards a positive evolution over the medium to long haul.
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2/9/2016 - dchoo077 wrote: 92 Points
PnP. Consistent with previous notes. Pure and elegant, almost like a burgundy. Very fine with some spicy/savoury notes on the back end. Worth seeking out. Approachable now but will improve over the next 5yrs.
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11/8/2015 - dchoo077 wrote: 93 Points
Decanted for an hour and drunk over the following 2hrs. This is a very impressive young cote rotie. A lifted, sweet red fruit bouquet which is strikingly burgundian. Very vibrant fruitiness on the palate gives this wine a real sense of energy and freshness. Controlled power here. Only very slight letdown is the finish which fades a little too quickly. This will definitely improve with a couple of years but it is deliciously drinkable right now with a bit of air. Very good value and I'm considering buying another case of this. Additional note: Recorked about one third of the bottle and drank 2 days later. Showed some evolution, esp on the nose but the wine was still amazingly fresh and robust.
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10/3/2015 - rc@ughey wrote: 93 Points
One of the better young wines I've had recently. Bright red and brambly fruits are framed by smoke, iron, and earth. The fruit is concentrated, but it's not the star. Super floral nose of violets. Bright acids and serious structure -- but the tannins are so fine and the raw material so bold, this is a joy to drink even in youth. Real energy to this wine. Only gets better with air. I'll be looking for more.
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3/15/2015 - Pknut wrote:
Initially shows dark blue/violet fruit and then some red fruit emerges. Palate is nice and focused, no young puppy fat here although it's still very primary of course. I'm not getting much obvious tannin here, but the acidity is huge. My first experience with this producer that gets plenty of praise on the wine boards. I was shocked to see some wine left in the bottle three nights later, sitting on my kitchen counter, and not only was there was no degradation, but it was good. L'Apicio with Zack and Jeremy.
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1/6/2015 - coremill wrote: 90 Points
The fruit here is of the purple berry type, almost carbonic with its freshness, and it's really quite pretty, but the emphasis isn't really on the fruit, it's on the other stuff: the florals and meat and spice and earth, which continue straight through the midpalate, with a big lick of meaty spice on the finish. The tannins are fine-grained but sneaky and without food a bit drying, and there's plenty of acidity. I suspect there's some brett here, but this is one of the few cases where I didn't mind. This is old-school in flavor profile but without the rough, rustic tannins.
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12/31/2014 - Drankard Likes this wine: 91 Points
Drank over 5 hrs and didn't change from the first sip. Classic Northern Rhone that is sappy and very open. Not a serious wine or one to cellar but very tasty.
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10/11/2014 - xwine wrote:
Decanted for three hours. The nose is very much on the savory rather than fruity side, with lots of herbs, meat and some smoke, then some spice comes into play. Glides across the palate with a very silky texture, with fine-grained (though substantial) tannins, and it's quite stemmy; decent structure, but with a fleshy side to it. Later the dark florals (violets) make an appearance, along with some peat. The nose on this wine is truly remarkable, offering a panoply of ever-changing aromas. Right now the pleasure is clearly found in the nose rather than the palate, but this is a serious wine which I hope will be terrific given another ten years, or so -- really depends on the structure, and the acidity seems just a tad low.
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10/8/2014 - 5laton wrote:
Lovely smoky, violets, meaty nose. Beautiful suave texture. Tight, but shows so much class already.
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4/8/2014 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 93 Points
Zak brought this as well. Whoo-hoo! Really, old school, crunchy, stemmy, exuberant, berries, green. Crisp and clear on the palate - stems, green - chewy, small berries, delicious. Lean finish with fruit and stone. This is not as fruity and forward as the previous time with this wine, but it's still great. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1-1.5/2 = 16.5-17/20.
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3/15/2014 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
Very bright, red color. Entirely primary black fruit with some very faint meaty notes. However, there was a weird note that I could neither enjoy nor stop focusing on, that reminded me a bit of an extracted Beaujolais.
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3/15/2014 - salil wrote: 93 Points
Nothing new to add to earlier impressions. Young, primary, and very stemmy right now, but already showing great complexity and polish. Compelling now but gives the impression it'll be absolutely spectacular with time in the cellar. Glad I went long on this.
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11/13/2013 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very dark with textbook Syrah nose of violets, plums, smoked meat. Inky and deep with a crunchy stem/cluster note. Good concentration. Sweet on the palate with great fruit, but medium bodied and balanced - not heavy at all. Perfumed with violets and smoked meat again. Really clean, not super acidic, but beautiful. Forgot all these Parkerized, over-the-top Cote Roties - this is the real deal. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 16.5-17/20.
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11/13/2013 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Consistent with the bottle I had a month ago. Just a fantastic, elegant and pure wine with classic stemmy, briny, smoky and other savoury Côte-Rôtie flavours on a very polished frame. The aromatics keep expanding and developing more nuance with air, and even though it's incredibly young, there's great depth here and a silken texture that makes it very easy to drink. Thanks Z!
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10/19/2013 - tooch wrote: 92 Points
Another Saturday at Domaine (Domaine Wine Storage - Chicago, IL): A very fine syrah. Tasted blind, there's no chance I would have thought this was Cote Rotie. It didn't have the meaty, earthy edge that Cote Roties can have...and smelled more like a really dank Cru Beaujolais.
Its palate was edgy, dark and wonderfully snappy. Doesn't have the body you'd expect from a Cote Rotie but it has a lot more acidity and balance. Will be interesting to see what happens to this with age.
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10/10/2013 - salil wrote: 94 Points
Another stunner from Benetiere. Like the '10, it's already remarkably complex, fragrant and accessible right away with an aroma combining high toned stemmy/herbal elements with more savoury briny, olive, smoky and meaty notes, and beneath it all is a core of incredibly pure red and dark fruited flavours. The palate presence here is quite remarkable, the tannin's incredibly fine grained and gives it a very polished, elegant mouthfeel while a lot of the structure seems to come from the acidity, which keeps it very light on its feet. Fantastic balance and length, and I'm glad I own more of these.
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