TWO Spectacular High Scoring Rhone Wines - Very Limited Quantities!

TWO SPECTACULAR, WELL-PRICED ROTIES FROM OUTSTANDING 2015 VINTAGE

"I am a HUGE Cote Rotie lover, and have tasted the best wines from this Northern Rhone appellation, which can be as expensive as $800 per bottle or more depending on the vintage. Both of these 2015 Levet Cote Roties are under $75 and they stand up to wines 4 to 5 times the price. Believe me on this that this wine has a LOW PRICE for what's in the bottle. (Shhhh, don't tell Levet and the importer this though.) Cote Rotie is known for steep terraces cut into the hillsides, which are difficult to manage, as well as low output (they don't make much wine – but what they do make is simply magical). 2015 was an outstanding vintage! Unfortunately, we only got a tiny allocation of these spectacular wines - flip a coin on which one to purchase - or purchase both, they are both incredible wines for the money!

Levet's "Les Journaries" is a cuvée drawn from grapes harvested from old vines in the "La Landonne" lieu-dit (vines planted in the 1950s) and old vine parcels on Cote Blonde, planted in 1929. (60% La Landonne/40% Cote Blonde) Most producers in Cote Rotie make single vineyard bottlings of these parcels and charge anywhere from $150/bottle to $800/bottle. Levet decides to blend these two incredible vineyards and make for one hell of a wine! "La Chavaroche" is a southwest exposure vineyard with an average age of 42 year old vines all from the Cote Brune sub-region of Cote Rotie! To give some pricing context, some producers in Cote Rotie make a "Cote Brune" label and sell it for around $150 to $450 a bottle. Domaine Jamet is my favorite who does this - that wine sells for about $400, and is very difficult to find. I put the scores that Josh Raynolds from Vinous gave these wines below just as a reference. Personally, I would have rated these a lot higher simply for the quality for the price. I absolutely love these wines!" - Jim Knight, Wine House

LIMITED QUANTITIES ON BOTH OF THESE WINES

"Bright violet. Smoke- and pepper-accented dark berry and cherry pit aromas pick up suggestions of game, licorice and pungent flowers with aeration. Sweet and expansive on the palate, offering concentrated black and blue fruit and spicecake flavors that unfold steadily as the wine opens up. Finishes strikingly long and smooth, featuring lingering smoked meat and candied dark fruit notes, supple tannins and an emphatic echo of candied flowers." – Josh Raynolds, Vinous (April 2017)

Importer's Notes: Since the 2004 vintage, we have expanded our work with the Levet family to include a second bottling of Cote Rotie known as "Les Journaries", a cuvée drawn from grapes harvested from old vines in the "La Landonne" lieu-dit. This wine is more subtle, more elegant and "quieter" if you will than the "Chavaroche". At the same time, it is very much a Levet wine with a bouquet of violets, wild berries, a touch of animal and resinous-like tannins that speak of the inclusion of stems (a hallmark of the Levet tradition). The "Journaries" is approachable at an earlier stage than its companion "La Chavaroche" but, that being said, it is a wine that not only ages gracefully but almost requires a touch of patience.

"Dark purple. Wild, highly perfumed blueberry preserve, smoked meat and Asian spice aromas expand and deepen with air, picking up suggestions of potpourri, olive and woodsmoke as the wine opens up. Sweet, seamless and concentrated, offering sappy, sharply focused black and blue fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors that show a compelling blend of power and vivacity. Closes sweet and broad, delivering outstanding persistence and slowly emerging, youthfully chewy tannins." – Josh Raynolds, Vinous (April 2017)

Importer's Notes: This wine is aged for thirty to thirty-six months prior to bottling. It is, quite simply, a ferocious wine, unique in its uninhibited expression of the smells and flavors of the appellation. No compromise is brooked here. The result is a wine that is controversial, too "wild" for many but, for us, one of the most elite wines in our personal pantheon.