1985 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 92.3 points

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  12/10/2013 - j45 Likes this wine:

  Smoky, barky, meaty, bloody, orange peel, licorice, full of exotic scents...most of which would be folly for me to try to name. The elegance of Côte Blonde with the magical ability to still be youthful at age 28. Velvety in the mouth, but still showing the presence and poise to hang around for another five years or more. Superb.

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  1/28/2012 - Tim Heaton wrote:

  Mayfair tasting group does Syrah (Denver, CO): Decanted for sediment, returned to bottle three hours before serving blind. Obvious age, with several well-developed transitions and a touch of orange-brown at the rim. This bottle had been well-preserved in a single cellar since release. The nose was the winner of the night - by far - for most but not all (read: not those seeking alcohol/extraction first). Notes of creosote and tar dominate for the first 20 minutes in the glass, with clove, herbs, charred meat and spice rounding out the aromas. Upon first taste the palate was markedly different from the nose, requiring me to give the nose 94-95 points, but the palate merely 89 as it just couldn't muster any strength. However, I was about to be schooled. Once the blind tasting had finished (an hour later), and scores were tallied, I poured some more to see if it had changed - wow, the palate had swelled, with a fresh volume of acids, vibrant well-developed fruits and precise, grippy tannins, more spice and mature fruit characteristics. After this little lesson, the wine was instantly my #1 for the night, the group's #3. I was fortunate that while most were draining the remainder of the Cayuse and the Owen Roe I was able to drain this, all the while savoring every magical moment. My guess was Cote Rotie, 1982. superb would be an understatement, highly recommended drink thru 2018, score: A/A+

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  7/10/2009 - Paul S wrote: 92 Points

  Rhone and Riesling dinner (Jade Palace, Forum Galleria): First of a pair with the 1989. Absolutely gorgeous nose. Garrigue, brambly herbs, tree bark, along with meaty roast duck and black chicken soup notes, all layered over deep scents of sweet dark berries and plums, licorice and orange peel, with a whiff of toasty smokiness floating around. The palate was fresh and alive still. Again, herbs amd bramble, orange peel and fleshy back fruits and a touch of sweet cherries. Very elegant and full, with some depth, but perhaps lacking the complexity of a truly great Côte-Rôtie. Finish showed a little heat at first, but that dissipated to leave lingering flavours of chinese herbs, winter melon, some smoke and a little eucalyptus lift. Very nice, but time to drink up.

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  7/13/2008 - baroloboy55 wrote: 91 Points

  Beautiful on opening. Complex, complete, feminine bouquet of mature C.R. hermitage fruit. Sweet red fruit; olive, lavendar, and gently roasted lighther meat aromas. The wine is quite translucent, running to slightly bricked and then clear edges. On the palate rich and some grip remaining, though fairly fully resolved. Pleasant surprise. This wine seems very alive tonight, and should take on some weight with an hour's expsosure. This is a progress report. More later.

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  12/25/2006 - antiwood wrote:

  Ruby red, slight bricking and amber at rim. Smoke, forest floor, dried herbs (sage, marjoram, lavendar, etc.), blackberry jam. Mouthfilling, balanced, very fresh, blackberry. Velvet, stately. Black pepper, very long and vibrant finish. Never would pick this as 20 year old Cote Rotie. Simply beautiful and elegant wine.

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