This wine was something I needed to taste for studying my WSET L4 D3 class. I was excited that I had the chance to taste something I would not typically have bought myself due to its typically out-of-reach price for me. The first thing I immediately noticed was the pronounced intensity of the aromas as I poured the beautifully purple with hints of ruby-colored wine into the glass. The first scent that came wafting out even before putting my nose to the glass was chocolate. I knew right then this wine had me at hello. The oak notes were quite prominent, but the black fruit flavors could still be strongly detected and balanced out nicely. When I took the first sip, my mouth was so happy. The aromas of chocolate and black fruit did not disappoint on the palate. They also gave way to vanilla, floral, vegetal, and more oak notes such as cedar, smoke and cigar. I was surprised that the body was not as full as I had anticipated, but I should have been prepared for that given this was from Cotie Rotie. It really left a refreshing feel in my mouth. The wine was still somewhat tight and could actually use to be laid down for a couple of more years at least. The tannins were fine and velvety, able to feel them there, but their presence was not a nuisance, more of an additional complexity. Overall, this wine is beautiful now with the great potential of being even more beautiful in a few more years. In my humble opinion, I would say yes, this wine is definitely worth the price point now and probably even more so a few years from now.
My official note: This is an outstanding wine. This wine shows all the complexity one would expect from this style. with pronounced intensity the complex flavors give layers to this wine. Aromas and flavors determined are: blackberry, forest floor, mushroom, baked cherry, vanilla, violet, chocolate, mocha, cedar, smoke, cigar, bramble, tomato leaf, pencil shavings, leather. There are primary fruit (blackberry), floral (violet), vegetal (tomato leaf, forest floor, mushroom) notes as well as secondary notes of chocolate, cedar, smoke and leather showing aging in oak. The tannins are fine and velvety. The body is med+ giving it somewhat of a refreshing feeling in the mouth, but the finish is long and each of the flavors can be continued to be distinctly identified all the way to the end. The wine is in excellent balance with the med acidity balancing well with the med alcohol and the dry but pronounced flavors. Nothing appears to be overpowering anything else. More than very good due to all of these factors as well as the potential to even further improve with age.
