Displays highly perfumed black/blue fruit aromas, along with suggestions of exotic spices, potpourri, olive and smoky minerals. Densely packed cassis, blueberry and violet pastille flavors are underscored by a vein of spiciness. The mineral note repeats on the back half. Plays power off of delicacy with a sure hand and finishes with sharp delineation, powerful violet, mineral qualities and steadily building tannins.

It's never easy to prognosticate how the final assemblage will turn out, but I tasted eight different lots of the 2018 Cote Rotie, the least of which I rated (92 - 94), with some as high as (95 - 97). Overall, the wines are very ripe (le Plomb clocks in at over 15% alcohol), with supple tannins but also adequate freshness. Together, the result should be a full-bodied, rich yet lively wine, with notes of violets, hickory smoke, black olives and cassis. Based on past experience, I'd expect this wine to look firmer out of bottle than it does presently, with two decades or more of cellaring possible.

Full bottle 1,370 g. Richer, riper and more flattering than the Terrasses 2018 from brother Jean-Luc. So rich that tasting it blind I wondered whether it might be La Mouline. (At that stage we didn't know it was so young.) Super-clean, pure and gorgeous. One of the lusher Côte Rôties. Really lovely. (JR)

Darker in fruit profile with a lick of black olive, this carries the ripeness of the vintage well on the nose. The palate is slicker and fuller than normal, plump and round in a way that loses just a bit of the edginess that makes Jamet so unique. A big wine for this estate but still very enjoyable with enough aromatic X factor. (TP)