2011 Marie et Pierre Bénetière Côte-Rôtie Cordeloux - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (6/5/2016)
After nearly 25 years of serious wine drinking it takes a special wine to stop me in my tracks. That is exactly what happened on my first sip of the Bénetière Côte Rôtie. It's an essence of all the things I look for from the appellation, ranging from floral to fruit to stone, with all the meat and smoke elements that make Côte Rôtie such a fascinating wine to drink. It's quite coiled up, which makes sense given the age of the wine. Following it over about 4 hours gave the opportunity to have it soften aromatically, but it remained quite firm on the palate the entire time. I've never had an aged wine from this producer, but all the signs point towards a positive evolution over the medium to long haul.