Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie Lieux-Dits ‘La Belle Hélène’ 2017

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

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A while back I spent a couple of hours with Stéphane. Closing my eyes I can still recall the beguiling scents that lifted from the glass of each wine he poured. We tasted through the Lieux Dits, individual sites, of his Côte-Rôtie vineyards; his knowledge of the sites was only matched by the individual expression each of the wines gave us. The hit rate of the descriptors: stunning, harmony, layering, purity, length, complexity, beautiful tannins, balance, restraint and poise across the tasting was insane!

Turning to a selection of older wines from 2010, 2007 and 2005 everything just made sense. The power and elegance of these wines, with the additional layers of complexity andsecondary characters that only develop with time was on show. Such exceptional wines with so much personality.

What’s a Lieux Dits?

Lieu dit is a French term referring to a specific part of a vineyard or region recognized for its own topographic or historical specificities. Their precise geographical location is not registered by the INAO. You’ll find them in Alsace, Burgundy, the Rhône Valley. They are typically noted on a label as an indicator of quality.They are often a smaller part of a Climat or named vineyard.

In Rhône, lieux-dits are most commonly seen for some of the top wines of the region. Two examples are the lieu-dit La Landonne or La Chatillonne within Côte-Rôtie. Not all sites have been registered as lieux-dits. For example La Mouline and Les Jumelles are les marques of individual producers.

Côte-Rôtie often compared to Burgundy for it’s detailed vineyard breakdown. Like Burgundy we see dramatic differences in the wines from vineyard to vineyard. Stéphane has a great number of lieux-dits that we works with through the Côte-Blonde (southern part of Côte-Rôtie) and Côte-Brune (northern part of Côte-Rôtie).

When the wines are of the quality to stand on their own he releases a small selection of the best lieux-dits.

This year all 7 hail from the Côte-Brune. 1 bottle each of the Lieux-dits Fongeant, Côte-Bodin, Le Champon, La Viallière, Bertholon, Montmain and Cognet come in this 7-pack.

In the map below you’ll see each of these Lieux-dits marked out. Immediately above Ampuis is the border between the Côte-Brune and Côte-Blonde.

About Stéphane Ogier

Sometimes you meet a winemaker and there is a little spark in their eye; you can just tell they have all the passion needed to excel. And then you taste!

The Ogier family has been based in Ampuis for seven generations. From the age of six Stéphane knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a winemaker. In 1997, after completing his oenological studies in Beaune, Stéphane formally joined the family estate. The domaine produces wines from 27 acres of vineyards in some of the most famous Côte-Rôtie areas, such as Lancement, Côte-Rozier, and La Viallière. Aside from his Côte-Rôtie wines, Stéphane makes a Côtes du Rhône (Le Temps est Venu) and several Syrah wines (La Rosine, L’Ame Soeur). Today, the wines have become a reference point for the appellation and are sought after by wine lovers and collectors around the world.

Style

Fresh, vibrant, poised, harmonious, layered, and, of great length. No super-ripe fruit characters, heavy-handed oak and just a splash of Viognier. Ogier want’s Viognier to be complexing, not an individual character in his wines. As is the norm, it is a field blend, when included in a wine and typically less than 5%. For reference Guigal’s La Turque has 7%, and, La Mouline 11% Viognier.

What happens when you blend Shiraz & Viognier

The blending of Shiraz and the white grape Viognier originated in Côte-Rôtie. The interplay between the two varieties is truly something special.

Co-fermenting rather than blending finished wines simply results in greater harmony and expression.

The colour of the wine becomes darker as a scientific phenomenon known as co-pigmentation occurs, small compounds from the Viognier stabilises the large colour compounds from the Shiraz.

Perfume, flowers, and, spice from the Viognier adding intrigue to the aroma. Making it so much more inviting!

Those aromas carry through to the palate where the last bit of magic happens. The tannins develop differently to 100% Shiraz wines, beautifully refined, and, silky they offer a wonderful feeling in your mouth. mouthfeel.

Tim Kirk from Clonkilla was kindly sent me a mixed case, including some experimental wines not for release. In it, 3 wines, 100% Viognier, 100% Shiraz, the components of his Shiraz Viognier, and, the Shiraz Viognier itself. A fascinating tasting, you could see how each of the component wines contributed to the blend. The blend just had something extra. This is the result of fermenting the red grapes of Shiraz with the white Viognier. The chemical soup that exists during fermentation ends up coming together to be greater than the sum of its parts.

In Côte-Rôtie the vineyards are mixed plantings with Viognier vines next to Shiraz, all picked at the same time. The proportion of Viognier ranging from none up to 10-12%.

Shiraz or Syrah

Syrah is a French grape variety native to the Northern Rhone, in the east of France. In other parts of the world, it sometimes goes by the name Shiraz. Historically, the distinction between Shiraz and Syrah has been linked to the divide between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ world; Syrah was associated with the red wines of the Northern Rhone, and Shiraz with the bold, ripe wines of Australia and the ‘new world’.

However, over recent decades this interpretation has begun to shift. Today the decision to to refer to a wine as a Syrah or a Shiraz requires consideration, as each term comes loaded with their own preconceptions. But instead of it being a matter of Europe vs. the rest of the world, now it has less to do with location and more to do with signifying differences in style, especially in terms of climatic expression.

In the Rhône Valley, particularly around Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage and Cornas, the climate is classified as cool and continental and conditions can be challenging; the vineyards are often extreme, rising out the Rhône River and towards the sky at calf breaking angles. Some are terraced, while others constructed from taking rocks that have made their way to the bottom of the slopes on an annual pilgrimage back to the top. Outside of France, when a wine is labelled Syrah, it typically implies that it has been made in the style of this region: lean, elegant wines with plenty of spice and savoury character from a marginal climate. In Australia, the relatively recent expansion of cool climate vineyards and the experimentation with a wide array of making techniques has seen an increase in the diversity of styles produced, with many regions like the Canberra District, the Yarra Valley, Adelaide Hills and Mornington opting to use Syrah over Shiraz.

By contrast, Shiraz is not a term you’re likely to encounter on a French label. But in the rest of the world, and especially Australia, it indicates the richer, riper style of wine for which regions like the Barossa and McLaren Vale have become famous. However, today we’re seeing an evolution in the styles of Shiraz from these warmer, more established regions. A new wave of producers are making wines with restraint and elegance through earlier picking and careful handling of fruit.

Whether the climate is cool or warm, when you have exceptional Shiraz the opportunity to experiment with whole berries, whole bunches, stalk use, cold maceration, extended maceration, fermentation vessel, maturation vessel, cap management and any of thousands of other variables is possible. In Australia, we are seeing increasing use of whole bunch ferments for at least a portion of the fruit. The perfume, stalk tannin-rich wines, layering extra dimensions into the aromas and textures of the typically more restrained wines.

So, while Syrah and Shiraz can provide useful clues about the kind of wine in your bottle, it’s important not to get too caught up in this distinction and drink with an open mind.

Single Vineyard vs Blend

Over time ‘fashions’ have shifted from blends to single vineyard wines. Perhaps driven by the popularity of Burgundy, we’ve seen the Barolista making single vineyard or Cru wines as they call them, Australia has followed, in the 70’s Guigal launched the La La’s, creating three of the now most renowned single vineyard wines of the world: La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque.

Staunch ‘terroirists’ will claim a wine loses its identity, its sense of place if blended. Personally, I just want to drink great wine, whether blended or single site. Aldo Conterno’s top wine is a blend of three adjacent vineyards: Vietti’s Castiglione represents perhaps their best value Barolo, and often includes the fruit from the Villero vineyard, which makes their Riserva in exceptional years; Sandrone’s Le Vigne is a blend. Yet all of these wineries also make single vineyard wines. With my consumer hat on I just get to enjoy the fruits of their labour!

Sitting down with Stéphane Ogier and trying 6 of his Lieux Dits, which translates to ‘said location’ and refers to a specific site akin to a single vineyard, was a fantastic experience. As Stéphane walked us through the sites, terms like feminine, masculine, floral, savoury, earthy, and structured come through. Each wine had a great personality. Most would stand on their own, however one or two looked to offer more structural elements without the balance of fruit weight (though this judgement needs to be reserved given the youth of the wine). When we got to the blended Reserve, containing each of the Lieux Dits, the whole was definitely greater than the sum of the parts. The poise and harmony of the wine were at the next level.

So, my challenge to Guigal is to make a 4 pack with the 3 La La’s individually and a blend of the 3 La La’s!

The 2017 Vintage at Stéphane Ogier

Stéphane Ogier said that the 2017s are “on the tight side, because of their tannins, especially for a hot year” and hopes that people won’t be in a rush to open them too soon. He thinks that his 2018s, which I also tasted, “will be ready to drink, for sure, sooner than the ‘17s,” which he believes will be showing their best sometime “between seven and 10 years old, but will last for longer.” He described 2017 as “a pretty serious vintage, with the depth to age. The same is true for 2019.” One major factor in the freshness of the 2018s, he added, is that “because it was a full crop, there isn’t super-concentration to the wines, so you see more finesse and detail.” A recent move that Ogier has decided to make will see the Côte-Rôtie Réserve being held back for release at a later date. “Maybe three more years, maybe five, depending on how it shows,” he told me. That’s on account of too many bottles getting opened and drunk up, “especially at restaurants,” well before the wine is showing its best. “If you want to drink one now, make it the Mon Village,” he said, adding that “it’s the reason there are two bottlings now (aside from the single-vineyard bottlings and the Belle Hélène), so that there’s one for now and one for later.” 

Josh Raynolds, Vinous

Where in the World is Côte-Rôtie?

Today’s wines all hail from the Northern part of the Rhône Valley between Vienne and Valence.

Côte-Rôtie itself is split into to main sub-regions, the Côte Blonde and the Côte Brune. Hermitage is some 50km further South down the Rhône River.

If you face the hill from the Château d’Ampuis itself to the South you find the Côte Blonde, where soils are heavy with granite and produce elegance feminine wines.

To the North lies the Côte Brune, here the soils comprise mica schists and clay, yielding more masculine, structured wines.

Like Burgundy, individual vineyards in Côte-Rôtie have been identified, named, and, clear boundaries established.

Ogier’s Côte-Rôtie Reserve wine is made from 7 of these vineyards with a mix from the Côte Blonde and Côte Brune: But du Mont, Fongeant, Côte Bodin, Bertholon, Montmain, La Viallière, and, Lancement.

While there is individual bottlings of Lancement and Belle H

Where Hermitage is dominated by 4 main producers, including Guigal, Côte-Rôtie, now has around 100 producers making wine from it’s 550acres of plantings.