Maison Brotte celebrates the qualities of finesse and elegance in this Côte Rôtie with its deep shades and intense dark fruit aromas. The nose offers up intense aromas of pepper, underpinned by roasted notes. The very fine tannins turn the palate into an elegant burst of flavours, including blackcurrant, blackberry and musk with waves of spice. Tannic when young, the wine will require 4 to 6 years of cellar-ageing to develop its full potential.

We select our cuvée from two wineries in the AOC, which have been working in partnership with Maison Brotte for many years.

Appearance – Dark ruby hue with purplish tints.

Nose – Intense and complex. In its early youth, the nose is fresh with black fruit, violet and spicy aromas. After two years of cellar-ageing, blackberry jam and roasted notes dominate the first nose, which goes on to develop pepper, liquorice and smoky notes.

Palate – When young, the wine is fresh with a lovely structure and hints of blackberries, violets and cocoa. With age, the palate develops finesse, roundness and fat with a very long finish.

TERROIR

Côte-Rôtie has been an AOC since 1940. The AOC includes 75 classified “lieux dits”  and is made up of a little over  100 producers and nearly 70 domaines that bottle their own wine (see all the wine producers). The vineyards are located south of Vienne, 30 km south of Lyon, on the slopes of the right bank of the river Rhône. Almost all the vines are planted on metamorphic rocks. Côte-Rôtie is the most northerly of the Côtes-du-Rhône crus (the most northerly in the Rhône Valley). Here the Syrah reigns supreme but can be complemented by up to 20% Viognier.

VINIFICATION & AGEING

The majority of the vineyards lie on very steep slopes that can only be worked by hand. This involves arduous manual work, leaf thinning and green pruning. The grapes are, of course, also harvested by hand and picked when they reach the right level of maturity. They are then destemmed and crushed. The maceration lasts 15 days and is carried out in stainless steel vats at a temperature of 26-28°C to preserve as much fruit as possible. After devatting, the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation and is then aged in a lined concrete tank and 100-year-old oak foudres for 12 months before bottling.

SERVING

Serve at 16°C.  Open 2-4 hours before serving.

FOOD PAIRINGS

When young, this wine will pair perfectly with grilled lamb, charcuterie from Lyon, Coq au Vin and creamy cheeses such as Saint Marcellin. With age, it will work well with more refined dishes or more strongly flavoured dishes, such as a rack of lamb in a sweet spice crust, saddle of venison with foie gras, roast duck breast with foie gras or pheasant with truffles.

Name: Les Murets
Brand: Brotte – Les Crus
Classification: AOC Côte Rôtie Contrôlée
Type: Red
Region: Rhône Valley (France)
Grape Varieties: 100% Syrah