At first a very mute nose, showing little, so decanted for 1 hour. Colour opaque crimson/ black with little sign of any age. After air, a huge explosion of fruit from the glass - blackcurrants, blackberries mixed with bacon fat, white pepper and hint of very dark chocolate. The palate is quite silky but the intensity of fruit overlays a tannic core. Surprisingly rich and polished for a Jamet, quite luxurious compared his normal more animal style. This has the bones and stuffing to keep going for a very long time. Brilliant today and will only get better. 11 more bottles to go…
Posted from CellarTracker
1991 was a great northern rhone year, but Cote Rotie’s don’t last forever. I wonder how long people think this will go.
1991 Chave drinks so incredibly well right now. That Jamet sounds amazing.
Great note. I have a bottle of '99 I brought back from the domaine. Not exactly sure when I’ll pop it. Still working through my '99 classics which are still very young. I don’t have a lot of experience with CR and tend to stick to just a few producers, yet I get the feeling Cote Rotie can age for years. In great vintages like '91 & '99, I wouldn’t be surprised to see wines make it to their 30th b-day, if not older. The Guigal Las can certainly go a long time and have the oak treatment to do it.
I had the 99 Jamet last year. A BABY. Wait. It is incredible but has so much more to give.
I’ve had lovely old Cote Roties in the past year - Chapoutier 1959, Guigal Mouline 1972, Landonne 1979 and 1980, Gentaz 1983 and 1984 - all of which were drinking well and not any the worse for their age. Storage was pretty good, so I am sure this is a big factor.
I’ve had wonderful older bottles of Guigal’s Brune et Blonde, so I’d buy a good producer’s well-stored 1991 in a heartbeat.
The 91 Côte Brune was re-released by the domaine last year because they considered it to be perfect to drink right now (which doesn’t mean it can’t age further). Jamet in particular tends to produce wines that can age for quite a while. The best vintages for drinking right now are 95-96-97, and anything younger is going to be in a tough phase (except maybe the very last vintages).
I tend to drink most of my CR at around 10 years of age (15 for Jamet), but especially in great vintages they have the stuffing to go much further. I had a 91 Guigal Brune et Blonde earlier this year which was great, and a 82 Guigal B&B a few years ago that was also showing very well. The 99 Lalas are still babies.
