Cote Rotie Ampodium Rene Rostaing 2014 (750ML)

93 Points, Josh Raynolds, Vinous: "Bright violet. Heady, smoke-tinged blueberry, cherry and violet aromas pick up a hint of olive as the wine opens up. Sweet and energetic on the palate, offering concentrated dark berry and floral pastille flavors complemented by a suggestion of spicecake. The impressively long, blue-fruit-dominated finish delivers strong minerally cut and fine-grained tannins that sneak in late and add shape." 07/17

92 Points, John Gilman, View From the Cellar: "The 2014 Côte-Rôtie "Ampodium" bottling from René Rostaing is a lovely wine that seems likely to offer pretty early drinking pleasure, but also has the balance to age quite gracefully. 2014 was rainy in the first half of the growing season, with rains coming heavily right after the flowering and troubling the region until August, when things dried out and the sun came out to stay, saving the vintage, which was picked from mid-September to early October. Probably due to the rainy first half of the year, the 2014 Ampodium cannot quite match the precision and vibrancy of the 2013 version, but the wine is open, generous and extremely classy on both the nose and palate. The bouquet is a fine, complex mix of black raspberry, chocolate, smoked meats, black olive, a complex base of soil, a touch of hazelnut and a discreet touch of stems in the upper register. On the palate the wine is full-bodied and already hinting at the generosity to come on the attack, with a plush core of fruit, very good soil signature, moderate tannins and a long, focused and nascently complex finish. This is really pretty easy to drink already, though it is still early days and I would tuck bottles away in my cellar for another five or six years to really let the wine blossom- though, if I spotted it on a wine list, I would not hesitate to order it! A lovely wine. 2022-2050+." 06/17