Cote-Rotie Vieilles Vignes Tardieu-Laurent 2017

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Tardieu-Laurent is essentially a super-selective négociant-éleveur, family owned and run. Michel Tardieu is at the helm working alongside with his oenologist son Bastien with his wife Michelle and daughter Camille on administration. The concept of the company centres around Michel’s and increasingly Bastien’s Tardieu's abilities in sourcing small parcels of designated wines from quality fruit, then taking care of their élevage in the Tardieu’s cellar in Lourmarin. Michel has worked tirelessly to build relationships with small growers, over many years, encouraging best practice and sourcing, in the main, low production, old vine fruit. It is Michel’s and Bastien’s meticulous attention to detail, which makes these wines so special. This is a new wine in the Tardieu-Laurent line-up, due to a new supplier with vines in the prime vineyards of Landonne, Lancement and Chavaroche. The vines here are 60-70 years old on average. 100% whole-bunch vinified. Moderate-intensity ruby-purple colour. Struck flint on the nose, this is intensely mineral, with pretty floral detailing. The palate is insinuatingly fine on the entry, with a weight of liquorice and blackberry building in a crescendo, in tandem with a prodigious density of tannins. This is much more substantial than the ‘basic’ Côte-Rôtie, in a great way. The tannins are fine, but there are lots of them, giving a sense of massive concentration.