2019 Stéphane Ogier La Belle Hélène Côte-Rôtie

Dark in color, the wine displays a smoke-filled perfume packed with spice, black cherries blackberries, flowers, and crushed stone. The wine stains your palate with its layers of ripe, polished, elegant, energetic, vibrant fruits. Full-bodied with a serious depth of flavor, and purity to the fruits, this stunning wine will age for 3 decades with ease. The seamless finish hangs with you for 60 seconds, or longer. The fruit comes from 2 parcels on the Cote Rozier, with one parcel just below La Landonne. The grapes are whole bunch fermented and aged in an average of 15% new, French oak for the first year before being moved to demi-muids for the second year of aging.

Another superlative effort, Ogier's 2019 Cote Rotie La Belle Helene—a selection from the lieu-dit of Côte Rozier—boasts slightly lifted, herbal nuances on the nose, followed by masses of blackberry and blueberry fruit. Full-bodied, powerful, rich and creamy textured, it might be a tiny bit less complex than the La Cote Blonde but is still tightly impressive.