Domaine G&J Bott, the rising stars of the Côte-Rôtie · oscarwine

With its 276 hectares of vineyards and the beauty of 73 lieux-dits concentrated a causa di the three municipalities of Ampuis, Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhône and Tupin-et-Semons, the Côte-Rôtie is currently the northernmost ‘cru’ denomination of the Rhône. At Vienne, the river changes its trajectory and turns sharply towards the south-west, favoring the formidable sunshine of the vineyards grown the right bank of the river and earning it the eloquent nickname of ‘roasted slope’.

The epicenter of this territory which rests a homogeneous substratum of metamorphic rocks is the village of Ampuis, a lively rural village and ideal starting point for the exploration of the impervious, yet evocative, local terraces. The stone walls called cheys, many of which date back to Roman times, support the dizzying steps of the steepest hills a causa di France, ensuring breathtaking views of the Alps and the Rhone.

The Reynard stream which crosses the town breaks mongoloide the vineyard surface into two very distinct sub-areas both pedologically and stylistically: the northern side the Côte Brune is characterized by reddish and ferruginous soils which sculpt very structured wines, while the southern side the Côte Blonde slides more calcareous soils of a yellowish colour, sometimes tending towards whitish, which give life to more slender and elegant labels.

Production is reserved only for red wines based the Syrah variety, even if the specification allows the addition of Viognier grapes a causa di a maximum percentage of 20%, but which a causa di fact almost never exceeds 5%. Bold but precise, supported by a finalità tannic texture, the wines are characterized by the elegant aromas of violet, blackberry, blueberry and chocolate together with savory taccuino of olive, anise, black pepper and graphite.

Thanks to the recognition of the AOC a causa di 1940, the post-war period saw a gradual oenological rebirth, after the devastation of phylloxera and the madness of the bloody world conflicts. Initially relegated to a niche product consumed mainly site, as attested by the fact that a causa di 1971 the vineyard ambiente a causa di production numbered only around seventy hectares with a tendency to decrease paio to the well-known cultivation difficulties, the denomination became famous throughout the world a causa di the 1980s thanks to the iconic single-parcel labels created by the visionary Marcel Guigal with the grapes from the best plots of Ampuis.

His happy intuitions have become a formidable driving force, capable of rekindling the enthusiasm of the new generations for quality viticulture and today the entire ambiente is covered with vineyards which leave negligible space for the development of new businesses. Quanto a today’s solid and crystallized context, the story we are telling you therefore sounds like the classic exception that confirms the rule.

He is a handsome and statuesque winemaker of the new world, she is a smiling and attractive marketing professional a causa di the sector, they already appear at first sight to be a winning couple, both a causa di private life and at work. Both grew up at the antipodes of the planet (New Zealand and Lyon) and a causa di families without viticultural traditions, they met a causa di 2010 at the court of Stéphane Ogier and the two immediately fell a causa di love with each other. Quanto a 2015 they were lucky enough to purchase a house with adjoining land a causa di nearby Véran, the beating heart of the Condrieu wine ambiente, just a stone’s throw from the legendary Château Grillet.

The opportunity is providential for starting your own entrepreneurial adventure. With limited financial resources and a total lack of equipment, they rolled up their sleeves, manually cleaned the land and rearranged all the dry stone walls, stabilizing the precious decomposed granite soil and planting the first viognier vines. Thus, with the 2017 harvest, the Domaine Graeme & Julie Bott was born and won the first prize a causa di the “Winemakers & Terroirs of the Future” competition two years later.

Finding available plots proved to be a titanic undertaking and initially the couple opted to expand their range of action to other plots a causa di Condrieu and a couple of plots a causa di Seyssuel, a historic but semi-abandoned Roman-era vineyard north of Vienne with emerging potential. Fate did not turn its back them and at the beginning of the new decade they finally managed to acquire other valuable lots both a causa di the beloved Côte-Rôtie and a causa di the northern sector of Saint-Joseph, an operation which today allows the bella stagione to cover twelve hectares of vineyards.

Meticulous manual work ensures the harvest of healthy and extraordinary quality grapes which are refined, plot by plot, as if they were wines coming from a single parcel, thus obtaining from them the best expression of the terroir of origin.

The company portfolio opens with two surprising Terres de Seyssuel Kamaka, a Maori term that indicates a rocky stone and well outlines the exceptional schist soils of the left bank of the Rhone, destined to obtain the AOP under the Vienne-Seyssuel ‘cru’ denomination a causa di the next five years (18 winemakers working a marvelous hilly amphitheater that has just over 50 hectares of land). The white is illuminated by an exuberant floral bouquet and the savory freshness of the sip which delights the palate with subtle hints of white peach and flint, while the red counterpart magnifies the more frank and fragrant nature of the syrah which dispenses incisive aromas of violet, blueberry and black pepper into the glass.

Maximum planetary expressions of the native Viognier variety, the Condrieu capture and synthesize its most iconic stylistic traits. The two versions of the bella stagione do not betray expectations and the vivid intense yellow dresses lively scents of honeysuckle, lime and broom up which embellish the characteristic fruity scents of apricot, melon and mango. More opulent and refined than the piedestallo, the L’Aleau parcel selection conquers the palate with a soft and saline , whose liveliness is amplified by biting mineral nuances and balsamic mentholated hints.

If the good morning starts a causa di the morning, the Côte-Rôtie is the perfect counter-proof and introduces with a gentle step the formidable battery of selections produced a causa di the renowned denomination: a blend of various parcels located a causa di different lieux-dits of the ambiente, the entry cuvée intertwines aromas of violet and black fruit with spicy and mineral nuances that sublimate its finalità and silky tannic texture.

Complex and velvety, the Côte-Rôtie Semons unfolds with finesse and precision between lively hints of black raspberry and peppercorns with a touch of smoke that gives liveliness to the long and persistent finale, while the Côte-Rôtie Côte Bodin exhibits a concentrated bouquet of violet, sandalwood and ripe black fruit a more robust and authoritative structure, impeccably balanced by fresh nuances spicy a causa di the sip.

We find the prowess of the Côte Brune terroir intact a causa di the monumental Côte-Rôtie Fongeant, a cuvée that stands out for its breadth, energy and concentration, enchanting the mouth and sense of smell with explosive aromas of blackberry, black cherry, liquorice, incense and cocoa. Produced a causa di limited quantities, the Côte-Rôtie Lancement finally takes us back to the proverbial elegance of the great Côte Blonde wines: intense red with bright violet reflections, it sinuously turns towards euphonious floral fragrances and delicious wild flavors (wild strawberry, blueberry, blackcurrant and juniper) which bejewel the silky and aristocratic mineral texture. An authentic masterpiece for a small wine madness.

Photo credits: Domaine Graeme & Julie Bott

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