Côte Rôtie "Côteaux de Bassenon" AOC 2018

Dense blackish-red, almost opaque to the rim: a powerful, earthy red wine from the northern Rhône that openly displays its youth. Invigorating acidity, ripe yet still firm tannin, dark fruit over smoky spice, along with clear ageing potential.

Jean-Michel Stephan acquired his first plots in Côte-Rôtie in 1991; today, together with his son Romain, he farms 4.5 hectares on the steepest slopes above the Rhône valley. Granite and gneiss allow the vines to root deeply, while in Bassenon dark mimatite rich in magnesium-iron mica is found. Work is done largely by hand, with horses for tilling the soil and winches on the steepest sections, at a deliberately low yield of 30 hectolitres per hectare.

The cuvée comes from Syrah vines planted in 1896 and 1902, complemented by 10 percent Viognier and Sérine, an old relative of Syrah preserved through massal selection. Part of the hand-picked grapes ferments as whole berries through carbonic maceration. After 24 months in small oak barrels, the wine is bottled unfiltered and without added sulphur.

On the nose, sloe, blackcurrant and elderberry, alongside tar, dark tobacco and charcoal; with air contact, dark bread, truffle, sal ammoniac and freshly brewed coffee emerge. The attack grips immediately, the acidity is invigorating, and the tannin carries the earthy, distinctive body.

Pheasant «Souvaroff» with foie gras and black truffle, saddle of hare with sauce Rouennaise, carrot and celeriac purée, or Saint-Marcellin with prunes.

Since 1997, the estate's wines have been made without oenological additives, with ageing in used oak barrels from the Jupille forest. Production is limited and sought after internationally.