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Blog » Cote Rotie
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Côte Rôtie's Wild Side: Jean-Michel StephanIn July 2012, a friend and I experienced our first Bastille Day celebration in epic fashion at the Lapierre's annual feast in Morgon. A few days later, it seemed fitting to meet Jean-Michel Stephan atop the steep terraces of Côte Rôtie, who notes Lapierre as his greatest model.Stephan takes a vinification approach that differs drastically from his neighbors in Côte Rôtie. Inspired by his time in Morgon, Stephan's philosophy employs carbonic fermentation, a process customarily reserved for Gamay in Beaujolais. Still, the most profound bottles hit the same mark as great traditionalists like Jamet and Benetière.As Stephan explained, all clusters enter fermentation tanks free of sulfur additions. He pumps in some CO2, closes the hatch, and walks away. When he returns, the intracellular or carbonic fermentation is complete. This method gives Syrah a less restrained primary fruit note, and the use of whole clusters counters that with spice and tannin, but in the end, it's the fresh streak within Stephan's cuvées I notice first.At first glance, Stephan's wines may seem like Côte Rôtie through a Beaujolais prism, but they offer a unique mineral streak and wildly aromatic range. The dark and brambly fruit is unadulterated by the complete absence of sulfur additions. With decanting, these young wines reveal a side of Côte Rôtie that makes it feel like it's your first time drinking Syrah.Les Binardes is 90% Syrah and 10% Viognier sourced from a single vineyard just below Côteaux Tupin. Aged in stainless steel tanks with zero sulfur additions.
Coteaux Bassenon is 60% Syrah, 30% Sérine, and 10% Viognier (the oldest vines were planted in 1896 and 1902). This parcel is on darker mica-schist soils in the northern part of the appellation, having qualities more commonly found in Côte Brune.
Coteaux de Tupin is 100% Serine. Vignerons remember it as the ancient clone of Syrah, a more oval-shaped berry, providing a darker take on the already wild Syrah variety and doubling down on the violet aromatic notes. Stephan's old Serine vines grow on granitic gneiss and white mica schist soils.En Coteaux is produced only in select vintages, sourced from the oldest Serine vines in Bassenon, and is supplemented with 15% of old-vine Viognier. -
Pure & Precise Côte-Rôtie: Levet Chavaroche & JournariesFamille Levet is one of Côte Rôtie's most fervent traditionalists and smallest domaines with only 1,000 cases produced annually. While my love of Northern Rhône Syrah veers heavily toward the most old-school and authentic interpretations of terroir, Levet is almost in a category unto itself.This domaine has been the standard-bearer for ultra-traditional Côte Rôtie since Neal Rosenthal has imported the wines, starting in the early 1980s. Rosenthal's words on Bernard and Nicole Levet have always stuck with me, declaring these as the best and most carefully tended to vines in his iconic portfolio.The magic derives from the raw material on these treacherously steep terraced granite slopes. Levet works with the oval-shaped Serine, a genetic variation of Syrah more common in Côte Rôtie, known for its vivid, explosive violet tones, bacon fat, smoke, and black pepper, with a pulverized granitic streak that carries through the long finish. The wines are fermented with 100% whole clusters with a three-year aging regimen in foudre, demi-muid, and smaller barrels.At the northernmost, cooler-temperature stretches of valley, Côte Rôtie is where we find Syrah at its most hauntingly pure and precise. These characteristics have long turned the eyes of Burgundy collectors south with this kinship—this should be your first stop on the stylistic shift into the Northern Rhône. -
We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat: Maison Stephan SyrahWe reserve our biggest boats for the most prime catches. Today that means Jean-Michel Stephan's first-time cuvée from Syrah vines planted just outside Côte Rôtie's zone. This 100% Syrah, labeled Vin de France, was the most transcendent find for us in a long time. At $39 per bottle, this wowed us for its Côte Rôtie-like concentration of blackberry fruit, roasted meat notes, with loads of lavender and black pepper––the intensity we're accustomed to finding in bottles well over $75.
Maison Stephan's Syrah comes from just one hectare of vines in Ampuis and Chasse-sur-Rhône. As is the norm here from a Marcel Lapierre disciple, Stephan relies on carbonic and semi-carbonic fermentation with native yeasts and zero additives. Unfiltered and unfined without sulfur. Aging six months in stainless steel means this 2022 harnesses the primary fruit from the sunny growing season and has a fresh streak on the finish that screams granitic minerality.
We see this as an ideal option for holiday feasts with chicken, pork, beef, and lamb, and it will also be brilliantly served with a slight chill once we enter spring and summer 2024. We love Syrah, and this is our value champion of 2023.
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Blog September 05, 2024Côte Rôtie's Wild Side: Jean-Michel Stephan
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Blog April 28, 2024Pure & Precise Côte-Rôtie: Levet Chavaroche & Journaries
