Bonnefond Côte Rôtie ‘Côte Rozier’ 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.

Côte Rozier will also benefit from bottle aging, but was already soaring and magnificent from barrel this spring. The nose is beautiful, a blend of violets, olive, and raspberry; the mouth is seamless and long; the ¾ whole cluster fermentation gives the texture an exquisite clarity and definition. Vinous’s reviewer writes; “framed by bright acidity and delightful purity of fruit, the 2023 is shaping up to be a distinctively elegant Côte Rozier.”