Bonnefond Côte Rôtie ‘Les Rochins’ 2023

Patrick and Christophe Bonnefond’s wines somehow keep getting better. They’ve enjoyed a string of excellent recent vintages in the vines, but they also seem to be hitting their stride in the cellar. Once firmly in the ripe, oaky, “extroverted” camp that made them a darling of Robert Parker, the domaine has shifted towards subtler expression in recent years: less time in oak, larger barrels, and earlier harvests. The Bonnefonds now achieve an extraordinary subtlety in their wines — it’s still bold, brooding, inky-dark Northern Rhône Syrah, but somehow also with subtlety, grace, and lift.

Rochins is always the more serious of the two – Vinous’s reviewer writes “as dark as a moonless night” – and offers excellent aging potential. The nose is dark and floral with black cherry and cocoa; the mouth is long and very dense with perfect balance and beautifully coated tannins.