Côte Rôtie "Côteaux de Tupin" AOC 2022

A red wine of enormous intensity that remains elegant and juicy at the same time. In the 2022 vintage it appears particularly refined: a sweet fruit core, a touch of flesh, plenty of ripe dark fruit. The Syrah character is understated, letting the interplay of power, juiciness, fine extract sweetness and density carry the wine.

The grapes come from 0.5 hectares in Tupin on the northern Rhône, planted partly in 1941 and partly in 1993. The vines stand on a steep slope of leucogneiss; south-east-facing terraces act as natural solar collectors, while cool north winds ensure balanced ripening. Yields are extremely low, at 15 to 20 hl/ha. Jean-Michel Stephan acquired the vineyard in 1991; the oldest vines date back to 1893.

100% Sérine, an almost extinct grape variety related to Syrah and Dureza, whose stock is preserved at the estate through massal selection. After a cool 24-hour pre-fermentation, and in the spirit of Jules Chauvet, comes a cool 20-day carbonic maceration, followed by 24 months of ageing in used oak barrels from the Jupille forest. The wine was neither filtered nor fined, and only minimally sulphured.

Deep purple with violet highlights and a black core. The nose shows ripeness, intensity and freshness: cassis, blackberry and black cherry, elderberry and fig, along with a touch of blood orange, olive, liquorice and pepper, floral violet and lilac, and from the wood vanilla and clove. On the palate, dark fruit remains dominant, carried by density and a pulsating minerality.

Jean-Michel Stephan has worked consistently in a natural style since 1995, without oenological additives since 1997; since 2017 his son Romain Stephan has continued the work. The steep slopes are farmed largely by hand, with horses used for tilling the soil and winches on the steepest plots.