Domaine Rostaing, Cote Rotie, Cote Blonde 2009

Similarly concentrated to the 2010, yet not quite as refined or elegant, the 2009 Côte Rôtie Côte Blonde offers knockout richness and depth to go with notes of graphite, sweet black raspberry, earth, and spice. Possessing exuberant and overflowing levels of fruit, with chewy, rustic, yet ripe tannin, this is a blockbuster to drink over the coming 15-20 years.

Bright purple. A kaleidoscopic bouquet displays scents of black raspberry, floral oils, incense and juniper berry. Exotic and deeply concentrated, offering sweet red and dark berry preserve flavors and notes of candied violet and spice cake. Powerful but impressively lithe, with excellent finishing energy and lingering notes of flowers and minerals. Some air brought out tannins but there's more than enough buffering fruit here to handle them.