Inky, bright-rimmed ruby. Sexy, mineral-accented aromas of ripe black and blue fruits, candied flowers, olive paste and exotic spices show outstanding clarity and lift. Sweet, pliant and energetic on the palate, offering deeply concentrated raspberry, cherry, cassis and floral pastille flavors that show surprising energy for their heft. A smoky mineral nuance drives the extremely long, youthfully tannic finish, which leaves behind a sexy floral note. All whole clusters.

Just bottled, literally, the day before my visit, the 2017 C?;te R?;tie nevertheless showed incredibly well, with loads of violets, pepper, game, framboise, and darker fruits. As C?;te R?;tie as C?;te R?;tie gets, this full-bodied beauty has ultra-fine tannins, intoxicating complexity and nuance, no hard edges, and a great finish. Give it 4-5 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following 20 years or more.