
- Colour
- Red
- Producer
- Domaine Patrick and Christophe Bonnefond
- Region
- Côte Rôtie
- Grape
- Syrah
- Drinking
- 2010 - 2020
- Case size
- 12x75cl
- Available Now
2003 CÔTE RÔTIE LES ROCHAINS P C BONNEFOND - 12x75cl
- Colour
- Red
- Producer
- Domaine Patrick and Christophe Bonnefond
- Region
- Côte Rôtie
- Grape
- Syrah
- Drinking
- 2010 - 2020
- Case size
- 12x75cl
- Available Now
- Pricing
- Retail
- In Bond
- Pricing Info
Need help? Call +44 (0)20 7793 7900 or email wine@goedhuis.com.
Tasting Notes
-
Goedhuis
Another unbelievably cold cellar meant that the Bonnefond wines tasted somewhat backward although clearly of exceptional quality. In 2003 the grapes were cooled to 12 - 14 degrees and fermentations were kept deliberately cool. Alcohol levels remain higher than usual but such is the sheer weight of fruit that these wines are beautifully balanced. Tiny quantities were made. A wine of enormous power and presence. The reserves of elderberry fruit more than balance the impressive structure, and the overall mouth feel is silky and fine.
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Wine Advocate, February 2006,
Score: 96The inky/blue/purple-tinged 2003 Cote Rotie Les Rochains (a 2.78-acre vineyard) is a floral, bacon fat, litchi nut, black raspberry, and blackberry-filled effort. Opulent, rich, and slightly less tannic and backward than the 2003 Cote Rozier, it is an enormously-endowed, exemplary example of Cote Rotie from an extreme vintage. Well-balanced and incredibly pure, it is one for anthology. Give it 2-4 years of bottle age, and drink it over the following two decades.
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Producer
Domaine Patrick and Christophe Bonnefond

This estate in the commune of Mornas is perched up on the hills just behind the Côte Rôtie escarpment and is run by brothers Patrick and Christophe Bonnefond. The domaine’s style is a modern and polished approach to Northern Rhône Syrah. The wines have a compact richness, which is matched by up to 50% new oak in the top cuvées, giving the black fruit toasty smoky notes. The Colline de Couzou is a blend of fruit from the Côte Blonde and the Côte Brune, whilst the Rochains and Rozier both come from the heart of the Côte Brune whose schist and mica-schist soils typically give more structure to the wines than the finer, more delicate character of the granite soils found in the Côte Blonde. The Bonnefond vineyard sites are of exceptional quality; their Les Rochains parcel lies just next to Guigal’s La Landonne. The wines are never fined, and only undergo a light filtration before bottling. Christophe likes to include some press wine in the final blends, giving them a creamy richness. Their style is slick and seductive.
Region
Côte Rôtie
Only a red wine appellation, Côte Rôtie is the most northern of all Rhône appellations and is produced mostly from Syrah, although Viognier may contribute up to 20% of the blend. Its terroir is divided into two categories. Côte Brune's soil is comprised of iron-entrenched granite giving thesoil a rich red-brown colour. As a result, it creates wine of notable power and concentration that usually needs time in the cellar to soften and develop. Heading south down the slope towards Condrieu, one encounters Côte Blonde, an area comprised of decomposed schist and mica that is lighter in colour and tends to produce elegantly styled wine for earlier consumption (most of the area's Viognier is grown here). Many traditional producers of Côte Rôtie feel that their best wines are a blend of the two.