The 1997 Chapoutier Cote-Rotie is in a very nice place right now. It is fragrant, balanced, elegant and not over the top, packing a sensible 12.5% alcohol. The pristine raspberry and plum fruits are threaded with pretty flowers and there’s a waft of dried herbs. It is quite fine in the mouth with breezy, minerally acidity aiding definition and providing good cut to the finish and as the wine breathes up there are notes of freshly tilled earth, leather and tar.
Cheers
Jeremy
I reckon it’s easy to dismiss / under-rate old Michel, even given the ‘ambitious’ pricing. I tasted through thie 2009 single vineyard range in London recently and they are some seriously impressive wines. A magnum of 2001 Pavillon at the end of last year was something really quite special.
Cheers,
Matthew
Great note Jeremy.
I’ve had the '97 Chapoutier Cote-Rotie La Mordoree a few times (including at the domaine in Hermitage) and it sounds pretty similar to your note (I pasted my latest note in below).
I was looking for a bottle to open at the end of Mother’s Day dinner last Sunday and decided to crack into a recently acquired six-pack of '98 Chapoutier Cote-Rotie La Mordoree. I haven’t written the note yet, but the wine was stunning from the moment the cork was pulled.
-
1997 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (11/25/2008)
Mpls does Northern Rhone (Chave, Guigal, Jaboulet, Chapoutier, Clape, more): Last time I tasted this was at the domaine in 2006, and I remember being impressed. This bottle is a bit reserved on the nose but gives a nice expression of dark fruit, blood/meat and dried herbs. On the palate this gives a bit of red licorice flavor. Expansive flavors. Elegant mouth feel. Still fairly tannic. Almost the equal of the 1998.
Posted from CellarTracker
anyone tried the 90 recently? I have a mag waiting for some partially cooked lamb…
Dave - would you give the 98 some more time or is it as ready as it’ll ever be? Thanks. Peter.
Jeremy,
I would like to chastise you for opening a Cote Rotie tonight, but coincidentally I opened one myself. A '99 Gaillard Cote Rozier was excellent and seem to have shed most of its excess oak.
Sacrebleu! Both jeremy and Kevin. Heathens! (I eyed a '91 Ogier tonight, but decided against it.)
J,
Great to see you posting at Besssserker
do you think the ebob wall will ever come tumbling down?
how cool would it to be having The Style council’s - Walls come tumbling down
blarring from the log in page!
MT
not J, but “no.” I don’t see eBob ever admitting that a mistake was perhaps made . . . but I am getting pretty comfortable here . . .
alan
Lewis, had you Cote-Rotie’d on the same evening there would have been a tremor throughout the Cote d’Or!
Michael, I ‘m not one to get drawn into the politics of various wine boards but I must say that I feel quite sad about what has happened on the ebob site. I think for the last couple of years there has been a lack of respect shown towards Bob’s customers. I have been a subscriber of The Wine Advocate (either via my business or personally) since 1989, I probably haven’t used any reviews from The Wine Advocate to buy wine over the past decade but have kept up my subscription out of respect for Bob and Mark in that they have provided the canvas on which we have communicated and shared info about wine over the past years. I probably won’t subscribe again, anyway this place seems to be going along nicely and we have a great gathering of ‘Burgheads’ here.
Best Regards
Jeremy
Jeremy, I’m pretty sure the great domaines of the Cote d’Or realize that their economic survival depends upon you and a handful of other posters here such as Kevin H., Alan W., Kent C., et cetera. OTOH, I am less than a gnat buzzing the ear of the winery dog. They would not tremble at the thought of me having a Cote Rotie every now and then.
Want proof? OK, here is proof… Alan Weinberg famously announced that he was done buying Burgundy after the 2005 vintage. The '05s came to market in late '06, picked up in '07, and finished in early '08. So Alan quit buying, Lehman Brothers failed, and… the rest is history.
BTW, I feel the same way you do about the demise of eBob as a Burg community and as an active, vibrant wino community of all wine types. Been a subscriber to TWA since the early 1980’s. Been with Mark Squires since the prodigy.com days, beginning 1995. Havn’t used Parker’s TN’s to buy wines for many, many years, but huge respect for what Parker and TWA has meant to the world of wine, and to me personally. In fact, I can clearly remember the first Cote Rotie I ever tasted, 1983 Jamet, just finished my last bottle a few years ago. Thank you, Bob, for that recommendation.
I guess Parker has just failed to adjust to the social norms that exist on the internet, and that is a shame for him and for all the former eBob community.
I might pop that '91 Ogier tonight. Just don’t tell Ghislaine.
But look at the bright side, it only takes 15 minutes to go through Ebob now. It’s like a ghost town there. This could be a case study on how to destroy an e business in one day.
Peter,
I think it’s in a good early drinking spot – not closed, primary or showing too much oak.
Other than a flawed bottle in 2008 it has shown well every time I’ve had it.
However, there’s no hurry either. It’s likely to continue to improve for the foreseeable future and should drink well for at least 15 year, probably more.
Dave
OK, great - thanks Dave. I have some in storage and wondered whether to get them out. I suspect they’re best left alone for a while.
Cheers
J,
in the voice of the crazy teacher in ‘Back to School’
‘Good Answer, Good Answer’
For me my favorite Burgundy Heads are here now, so I am happy.
MT
don’t forget that both the Iceland volcano eruption and the oil spill occurred after my announcement of a red Burgundy buying moratorium. So it’s not just government and the Cote d’Or that are in turmoil. There are consequences to actions . . .
alan