Xavier inherited his father's vines in 2012, a tiny collection scattered among top terroirs in Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu and St. Joseph. He became famous in Europe when his 2015 Côte-Rôtie was deemed by Decanter's blind tasting panel to be the second best wine from the Northern Rhône, besting virtually all the top names of the region.We tend to think of Northern Rhône producers as belonging on a spectrum that runs from traditionalist to modernist. But many of our favorite producers — like Chave or Allemand — don't fit neatly into those categories, producing neither the backwards, often funky wines of the traditionalists nor the oaky showboats of the modernists. Instead, they borrow from both traditionalist and Burgundian techniques to make wines that emphasize fruit purity, grace and terroir. Gerard very much fits this mold.
What importer Rosenthal Wine Merchant has to say about this wine...
An assemblage of the estate’s finest parcels, the single Cote-Rotie cuvée produced at the Gerard domaine is sourced principally from the Mollard lieu-dit (65%) with the balance a mix of Font-Jean, Viallière, and La Landonne. The de-stemming regimen varies with vintage, though a significant part is generally left as whole clusters. This is a finer expression of the appellation than many of its counterparts along the slope, with a purity of fruit and finesse to the tannins. Although its profile is marked by a regal elegance that makes this wine seductively drinkable in its youth, older examples offer strong testimony that the Cote-Rotie from Domaine Gerard has the capacity to provide a pure and tenacious expression of this noble terroir for decades in the bottle.
Details
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Grape Variety
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Vintage
2018
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Size
750ml
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Farming Practice
Sustainable
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Style
Earthy , Fruity , Minerally
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Sweetness
Dry
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Body
Full Bodied