Rene Rostaing worked in real estate before turning his hand to wine in 1971, but it wasn’t until 2000 that he devoted all his time to his estate. Today, he looks after 7.4 hectares across 14 lieux-dits and 20 separate plots in Côte Rôtie. Since 1996 he produces just three wines - the Classic from a blend of 11 different lieux-dits, a seductive Côte Blonde and a densely structured La Landonne. On average 75% of the crop is destemmed and aging is split between 228-litre casks and 550-litre demi-muids, with only 10% of the oak being new. The wines are bottled without fining or filtration. Beautifully detailed wines that show restraint and elegance are the hallmarks of the estate.

After tasting Rostaing's 2019 Côte Brune, it would be difficult for any wine to measure up, but the 2019 Cote Rotie la Landonne comes darn close and is a more-than-acceptable second choice. Notes of violets and red raspberries lead the way on the nose, backed by the vineyard's signature roasted meat and black olives. Medium to full-bodied, incredibly concentrated and worthy of two decades of cellaring, yet not unapproachable even now, this is another suburb effort to emerge from Rostaing's magical vineyard holdings.Date: Jan 2022; Drink: 2025-2040; Rating: 98 Points; Joe Czerwinski; Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate