There Is the Greek Liking You …
…And There Is the Greek Offering You His Big Boy Cote Rotie – One Barrel Made
I Finally Made the Grade
A CLASSIC, Ageworthy Cote Rotie
– Favorite of Retired Pinot Noir Genius, Henrik Moebitz.
2021 Compagnie l’Hermitage (L – One of the Top Wines in All of Côte Rotie
– Nose: An Amalgam of Aromatics
– Deep and Intoxicating
– Leather, Berries, Cassis
– Insane Florality: Lilacs, Violets
– Some Blackberry
– Very Schisty and Granitic
– Spice Bazaar
– Palate: Top Level Complexity
– Sweet Intense Blackberry Fruit
– So Sexy and Elegant
– Energetic and Fresh
– Tiny Berry Fruit Complexity
– 93-95+, 94-96 Points (Jeb Dunnuck, Joe Czerwinski) (2016/2017 Scores)
The Greek
I have written I don’t know how many times about the wine store in th e small town of Tain l’ Hermitage, Compagnie l’Hermitage, which is run by Georges Lelektsoglou and his son Charlie Lelektsoglou. The store is a legendary place. George is the Pope of Tain l’Hermitage and the store is like his Vatican. People come to visit from all over the world and of course the Rhone.
As one can imagine George has many many connections over the years and he would be a fool not to use them. George is no fool and one thing he is uncompromising on is quality. If his store or his name is going to be on a bottle of wine, it better not only be damn good but the best of its category. George has a charming braggadocio about him but the thing is the man has delivered on all of this vinous braggadocio. The value wines like the Cairanne VV or the Hermitage Le Cerisae are the best of their kind and over deliver. I have had countless emails about those wines from happy clients. His Crozes VV St. Gervans has to be the top 2-3 Crozes of the 2015-2021 vintages.
Getting George’s high end wines is no easy task. He releases later than almost everyone and has an intense following in his store for these wines and he only makes a barrel of each.
Today’s Wine
Up today I’ve got the 2021 Compagnie l’Hermitage (Lelektsoglou) Côte Rotie Lieu Dit “La Brocarde” for $147.99 a bottle on a 3-Pack. It is also from the “Lieu Dit” series that showcase the best terroir of the Rhone as expressed through George Lelektsoglou who always, and I mean always keeps his sources quiet.
Vineyard La Brocarde is an amazing site and these are very old vines from the best parcel in George’s opinion. George knows his stuff and has tasted, walked these vineyards for decades.
Tasting History The 2012 Lieu Dit Brocarde for example is shockingly insane now. I drank the 2015 Brocarde with Pierre Brisset in November 2019 and he was blown away. These are world class best of class ageworthy Côte Roties from a vintage where Côte Rotie is a top appellation. A perfect vintage.
Winemaking One thing must be mentioned about this wine and how it is made and vinified. George gives them his extra touch and that is what makes it amongst the best. And of course how it is aged. George uses the minimal amount of SO2 without making the wine unstable. This gives it a purity you’ll likely only see in maybe the Cote Roties of Jean-Paul Stephan. The wine is not filtered and requires aging of 12 months minimum. Also everything is done by gravity. This was aged for 47+ months. It’s also bottled manually by gravity. Also dry materials like bottle, cork, label costs 4 times as more as the normal regimen. All of this adds up to a master of his craft who knows exactly what he is doing. I had a client who stopped by the shop some years back and drank a lot of crazy wine while he was there and he said the 2012 and 2015/2016 La Brocarde from the Greek were the best wines he tasted the entire trip. By far. And he visited Cote Rotie royalty.
These are also a favorite of retired German Pinot Noir genius, Henrik Moebitz.
The nose is sick. So many deep intoxicating aromas don’t know where to begin. Mint, leather, amalgam of berries with so many flowers. My god this wine is floral. There is an engaging lilac/violet and even dandelion thing going on. It is just insane floral as Brocarde I always think is one of the most floral Côte Roties our there. It’s intoxicating. Smoke and cassis eventually with air. It’s just crazy. With extensive air it gets better and better, Almost a liquor-like intensity. Gorgeous old wood shavings, library books. Almost cassis. Some blackberry. But it’s balanced and fresh just rich. Evocative and very open. Super floral, violets peek out from under the fruit. So mineral, very schisty, very granitic. Some olives and blackberry jam with a kiss of licorice. So deep and with so much breadth and depth. There is a spice bazaar that develops after a while. Never stops changing.
The palate is even better. It’s incredible. Each sip is an experience and it has energy and freshness like nothing else. The refinement and freshness in all of the 2021 Côte Rotie is like nothing else. Just incredible. Because with the excellent classic levels of fruit one has loads energy and freshness which raises the complexity level. The inner mouth florals which are even more intense than normal. There is a ridiculous amount of sweet intense fruit. Loads of cassis. It is mindbogglingly juicy and complex. The classic velvety tannins of La Brocarde are very apparent. The purity is off the charts. And it is all so refined. When you combine this level of purity with this level of refinement it takes your breath away. The contrast that happens to make it a harmonious whole is something else. Big blackberry fruit that just explodes in your mouth. It’s so sweet and floral. Terrific long finish that is actually legitimately amazing. There is so much tiny berry fruit complexity and it saps down on the the finish. It’s masterpiece and a work of art. I don’t sell many wines at this price point but when I do they always deliver.
Below is Jeb Dunnuck’s 93-95+ pt review for the 2017. Personally I think this will be 97+ upon maturity. Past vintages have been 95 (2010), 94+ (2012), 93 (2011) and 93-95+ (2017). This is now one of the top wines in all of Côte Rotie. The 2016 was not reviewed by Jeb but the 2017 was and it got 93-95+. 2017 review is below. The last review from the WA is 94-96 (2016) by Joe Czerwinski. That is below Jeb’s 2017 review.
“The deeply colored 2017 Côte Rôtie La Brocarde comes from a site on the Côte Brune side of the appellation. It offers a ripe, sexy, powerful nose of black currants, licorice, cured meats, and chocolate. This carries to a polished, ripe, medium to full-bodied effort that’s perfectly balanced, has sweet tannins, and terrific mid-palate depth. It’s unquestionably a modern style Côte Rôtie that will benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for two decades.” – 93-95+ Jeb Dunnuck (2017)
“For me,” says proprietor Georges Lelektsoglou, “’16 is better [than ’15]. Côte Rôtie has to have lightness, like a pretty woman.” The 2016 Cote Rotie Lieu Dit La Brocarde possesses that elegance in spades, being rich and velvety while at the same feeling light and airy, with a long finish.” – 94-96 Pts, Joe Czerwinski, WA (2016)
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 with your order if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
OFFICE HOURS 4-7 PM
I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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