Côte-Rôtie 2019: Report and top scoring wines

You hope for a few vintages like this in your life, says Jean-Paul Jamet. This is Domaine Jamet's only single-vineyard bottling, made every year. Rich and round on the palate, full of incense - rose and frankincense and all-enveloping star anise. It has exceptionally fine tannins with a beautiful lush density - sweet and chalky with a dark chocolate flavour. So fresh and aromatic with black pepper and dried rose alongside pinpoint acidity. A very rich and supremely opulent Côte Brune with an amazing cross between the smoky and the floral. A seamless wine. From barrel this was sheer perfection, so could well be worthy of 100 points in bottle.

Jean-Paul Jamet said '2019 gave wines in the style that I like to make'. A step up from the 2018 vintage, the 2019 is more vibrant and intense. A blend of 25 parcels, amounting to 17ha, almost exclusively on schist soils. No destemming. A tasting of nine different barrels across a variety of lieux-dits suggest that the 2019 Côte-Rôtie is very special indeed. This is vibrant and intense, but not as sunny as the 2018 in style - sugars and phenolics progressed at the same gradual rate in 2019, making for a more harmonious and balanced wine. You feel the hot vintage in the wine, but it's represented more as power and intensity than hot alcohol. Vivid and highly impressive.

Immediately this has the darkness and aromatic austerity of La Landonne. Very full-bodied, expansive on the palate with mouthcoating flavour and tannin but not heavy. This is seriously tannic, but it's not tough. Great character, great power and perfect balance. Alcohol is just a little raised, but this is a blockbuster. Around 3,000 bottles made. Fermented in open-top concrete tanks for 20 days, then matured in new and one-year-old barrels for 14 months.

Dark, opaque colour. This has that closed, dark austerity you would expect. Gently sweet with a touch of Lapsang Souchong tea in the background - this is full-bodied with very silky tannins. It's extracted, but not over-extracted, with good tannic weight and depth. Powerful, driving, not overly rich or ripe or alcoholic. Oak at this stage appears integrated. A very good vintage, very sleek, a thoroughbred steed. From the northern part of this lieu-dit, planted in 1975 to commemorate the birth of Philippe Guigal. At the beginning of its 42 months in new French oak barriques.

Lifted pink peppercorns here - a spicy and floral aromatic display. Medium-to-full bodied, far from massive with exceptional tannic elegance, huge length and a touch of dark chocolate on the finish. Very polished and sleek, so luxurious.

So round and charming - great elegance here with plentiful tannins but so fine, this really is special. It has great finesse and silky length, full of rose and violet. Opulent and very approachable.

Highly spicy, with attractive star anise and cinnamon notes to the black fruits. Velvety on the palate, but this has serious structure. It feels embryonic for now, the oak tannins, alcohol and acidity lack harmony, yet it finishes long. It will be very good when ready, but certainly shouldn't be opened before 2030. From lieu-dit Côte Brune, fermented in stainless steel, aged in new barriques for 40 months.

A distinctly herbal style of Côte-Rôtie. Medium-bodied, very fresh, with a vibrant palate shot through with sappy acidity. Tannins are robust, ripe, gently fibrous but not rough. Will be good young and good old.

Stylish, floral nose, partly from the whole bunch, party from the site. Very pure, gentle and velvety with dark fruit and tight tannins. Good acidity, alcohol feels just about balanced and overall great finesse - straight and elegant. Touch of menthol and pine needles on the finish. The barrel I tasted might end up being blended into Ampodium - so this cuvée might never see the light of day! Let's hope it gets its own bottling.

Has the deep red rose aroma that characterises this plot, peppery with a soft, velvety palate - this is gentle and welcoming. Acidity slightly lower than a typical year, alcohol a little higher, it's very rich and ripe, with good depth and a warming finish. Four weeks in tank, 18 months in oak, limited new oak, natural yeasts, and as many stems as possible.

A compelling blend of spice, smoke and florality. Full-bodied, but not overly fat or alcoholic. Has the lift and precision you would hope for, lovely acidity, so bright with great freshness, energy and focus. All destemmed.

Very floral character, gentle with a lovely acidity. This has imperceptibly fine tannins and an amazing floral lift, very Côte Blonde in spirit, even if schist.

Incredible, soaring, perfumed fragrance, violets, incense and star anise. Fresh and pure on the palate, with fine tannins and a little sappy, balsamic back note from the oak. The oak is aromatically quite present, lending cinnamon to the display. No heaviness on the mid palate. Very much in the Gaillard house style. The oak is liberally applied, but it works well.

Deeply coloured. Intense and open on the nose, with darker fruit character than the 2020. Spicier in style, with smoky juniper notes. Full in body, soft, juicy, but with plenty of intensity. Really mouthcoating fruit and ripe, plentiful tannins, with slightly raised alcohol compared to a typical vintage, but it's all in balance. Long, impressive and delicious. The most powerful vintage of this cuvée, but it's so good. The drinking dates are conservative, it might last much longer. Picked over five days, with one degree of alcohol difference from the start to the finish. The family has 1.4ha in this lieu-dit, partly planted in 1943, partly in the mid-1970s. First vintage was 2005, but just 900 bottles; 2006 was the first to be sold commercially. Gneiss soils; stems only included since the 2017 vintage. Natural yeasts, submerged cap fermentation, 40% new oak.

A touch of soy, and some rooty bitters on the nose. A full-bodied, lush and generous palate with tangy acidity. Strongly rooted tannins weave through the wine. It's powerful, very ripe but not overly sweet, and the oak regime is measured. Long finish, with damson and sloe. A dark, brooding style of Côte-Rôtie that will repay some cellaring. Don't drink it young. 45-year-old vines on average (some up to 80 years old), 30% whole bunch, fermented in stainless steel. Matured in 300l French oak barrels, 50% of which are new, for 26 months. 2,200 bottles made.

Beautiful sappy, balsamic aromas - thyme and lavender through the fresh blackberry fruit. Soft and yielding on the palate with pliable ripe tannins. Good acidity and freshness help to give the wine a sense of balance. Fruit to the fore, ahead of the oak, and a long, straight, enjoyable tight finish. Grown on schistous soils, partly destemmed, fermented in stainless steel, then aged in barriques and demi-muids for 22 months. 1,100 bottles made.

Violets, lavender and thyme. Not overly full-bodied, more tight in character than some Côte-Rôties this year. Great tannic finesse, sweet and gently succulent, with good concentration and a fresh, lifted finish that has a whiff of extinguished cigar. Gently saline. 15-year-old vines on the schist soils of lieu-dit Rozier. Partly destemmed. 22 months in barriques and demi-muids, 15% new oak.

Very driving, muscular tannins here, a schistous style on the palate. Closed for now, but still showing its freshness and power. Not overworked, it's tremendously tannic but the tannins aren't hard – nor are they mushy. A statuesque wine that will take time to come round. Don't drink it young; will be fantastic in time. Lieu-dit Côte Rozier. 70% destemmed, natural yeasts, 20 months in barriques and demi-muids with 30% new oak. 2,000 bottles made.