Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 23/12/2011

Showing beautifully, the 2009 Cote Rotie La Landonne offers aromas of tapenade, bouquet garni, asphalt, blackberries, cassis, roasted meats and additional black fruits. More evolved and softer than the 2010, with a long, full-bodied finish, it can be drunk now and over the next 10-15 years.

Rene Rostaing’s elegant style is well-displayed in both 2010 and the riper, more fleshy, exuberant 2009 vintage. Always the sexiest wine in Rostaing’s cellar is the Cote Rotie Cote Blonde. It includes 3-4% co-fermented Viognier and is always the most seamless wine resembling haute couture.

Vivid ruby. Intense black and blue fruit aromas are complemented by potpourri, olive and smoky herbs. Broad, palate-staining dark fruit flavors become brighter with air and show an emphatically spicy character. Finishes with excellent clarity and juicy persistence, repeating the floral and spice notes. Rostaing thinks this will be especially tasty in its youth.