Domaine Barge – 26/05/2012

Dark spice pepper, dense chalky minerality. Elegant and approachable yet masculine and mature, great character for a wine of this appellation, good savoury notes and spicy game and earth.

Combard Cote Rotie 2011 (Old Francois Freres barrel sample)

Amazingly mature spice pepper, smoky toasty popcorn with blackberry fruit. Delicate and fine, fresh and bright, pure and generous with contemplative confidence and peppery tannins.

Combard Cote Rotie 2011 (new oak barrel sample)

Slightly more closed and toasty from the new oak, juicier fruit character and weight, creamier texture and extraction from the new oak tannins, slight vanilla element.

Combard Cote Rotie 2011 (one-year old Francois Freres barrel sample)

Same toast popcorn brittle character as the first sample, a more youthful expression of the fruit with more oak texture, fuller and more powerful but hiding the terroir a little.

Duplessy Cote Rotie 2011 (barrel sample)

Bold dark fruits, slight floral and reduced pepper spice, retaining maturity on the nose. Vibrant fruit and fresh acids on the palate, powerful mid-palate but with elegance, generous tannin structure.

Cote Brune 2011 (barrel sample)

Wild masculine nose of spices and balsamic, herbs and roasted elements. Powerful intense concentration, expressively complex and long, still approachable and not at all aggressive, subtle and supple tannins.

Duplessy 2010 (barrel sample)

Violets, black olives and balsamic notes surrounding blackcurrants and crushed dry pepper on the nose. Concentrated finesse and length on the palate, purity and liveliness with a core of liquorice, youthful expression and brightness.

Combard Cote Rotie 2007

Garnet, violets, very delicate black pepper spice, some red fruits and generous ripeness, but showing some development. Very closed at the moment, took a while to open up after some breathing, soft in tannins and structure but not yet velvety, compact and lean but the complete package.