Syrah, Serine & Viognier, Côte Rôtie, Northern Rhône, France

A fruity, floral & smoky zero-zero prize. Jean-Michel Stephan created the domaine in 1991, his son Romain joining in 2017 to tend the 4.5 hectares in the Northern Rhone’s famed Côte Rôtie. With vines aged between 33-125 years old, the blend of meaty, smokey syrah (60%), spiced, mineral serine (20%, a rare ancestor of syrah), and aromatically gifted viognier (20%) are left in whole bunches for 20-25 days of carbonic maceration to lift these denser varieties. FUN FACT! The vines in this parcel were planted in 1896, which would make them some of the first vines planted after the phylloxera epidemic! #historyisalive. Aging takes place over 24 months in barrels to really round and compound. Blackberries in bacon fat, bay leaf tannins, dissolved slate, smoked warm olives, grated nutmeg & hothouse tomato umami goodness. Pour before seeing Hamilton for the first time.