Côte-Rôtie & Condrieu 2023: Report and top-scoring wines

This has a beautiful scent of berries, smoke, earth, iodine and flowers (rose and violet), with herbal nuances and potpourri. It's so fine and fresh on the palate, with great energy and tension – a classic expression of Jamet's Côte Brune. It's fairly light-bodied and delicate, though still structural, with great intensity and impact. Balance, freshness, detail and finesse are words that come to mind. It's an emotional wine, that is a contender for a 100-point score when in bottle. Whole-bunch fermented, no new oak.

Immensely aromatic, with pink peppercorns, Turkish delight... just an unbelievable nose. The aromatics flood the full-bodied palate, which is incredibly silky and fine. It's a wine of utter perfection, with perfect balance and such energy, tension and freshness. Stéphane puts it up there with his 2007 and 2011, both exceptional vintages of this cuvée. He says it's because he waited so late to pick – until 8 October. This is one of the finest young Côte-Rôties I've ever tasted, and a contender for a 100-point score once in bottle. Pure Syrah, all destemmed.

A tasting of the constituent barrels, so this is a provisional score. Gerine has a touch of cold-fireplace aroma from the stems, the tannins are quite strict and the fruit is fresh; it’s tense. Lésardes and Cumelle show some slightly confit-grape scents and a touch of cassis. Tense and fresh, with good acidity and grippy, slightly grainy tannins that are a touch underripe. Truchet is a cooler terroir, showing a touch of white pepper. It’s fuller and more generous in fruit – juicy blackberry – with softer tannins, but still very fresh and tense. Tartaras and Bonnivières had an October harvest; showing beautiful floral expression, with good ripe fruit and tannins and more richness, but it’s still so fresh. Gerine and Moutonnes are showing peat and iodine notes. It’s silky, with good ripe fruit and tannins and a powerful finish. Fongeant has notes of lavender and violet, then it’s very fresh, silky and attractive – just lovely. Le Plan is fuller-bodied, more classic warm-vintage fruit, with great acidity and tannins. Côte Blonde, Côte Bodin and Leya are lifted, silky, pure, complete and beautiful. Landonne is a relatively fine and fresh expression, not as austere as it can be. Virtually all whole bunches this year. Overall, this is looking like a fresh, elegant vintage, in a fairly classic style, rather than the bolder wines that have typified the past eight years. It promises serious complexity in the long term.

Iron, iodine and violets. Remarkably lifted for La Landonne, but still assertive, with serious energy and tension. Austerity is usually the watchword for this lieu-dit, but this vintage of Jamet's La Landonne isn't overly austere, it's actually really quite complete. It has grandeur, but isn't overly massive. Very good indeed. Likely to be bottled pure in this vintage; if not, it will be blended in to the classic Côte-Rôtie.

A spicy style with a good sense of ripeness, it's really quite mouthcoating but with super-fine tannins, good acidity and a long finish. Exceptionally fine, well balanced and juicy, with surprisingly well-integrated supporting oak considering it was vinified in open new demi-muids ('we wanted to do something different,' says Matteo). From a 3ha parcel on the slope; 100% whole bunches; aged in mixed barrels. The first vintage was 2018, not made in 2021.

Very cloudy. Incredible aromas. Bright, lifted lavender, black olive, violet and a touch of cassis. It's lower in alcohol, very fresh and light in body, but there's no lack of concentration. The tannins are like wet clay. This is a very atypical style of Côte-Rôtie, but it still speaks of the place. From a parcel in Vérenay on schist. The wine sees carbonic maceration, and he draws off any juice that escapes so as to avoid a traditional vinification; then one month of maceration. Aged in large 10-year-old barrels.

Unusually deep and dense for a 2023, but with all the freshness of the vintage. Mouthcoating bold tannins, deep, earthy and bassy, with floral top notes and good length. The tannins are surprisingly powerful for 2023 – slightly lacking in elegance perhaps, compared to top vintages of this cuvée, but so impressive nonetheless. All whole bunches; picked 8 October from a parcel of Côte Rozier.

A very attractive raspberry-scented style, this is perfumed, fresh and pretty. It's very much Blonde in style, with exceptionally fine tannins and lovely minerality. Not long or deep, but so impressive and elegant. From a parcel of vines on gneiss above lieu-dit Maison Rouge. All destemmed.

A very complete wine, with lovely tannic finesse and plenty of freshness and concentration. Bright acidity, with a tobacco note. It's not quite as immediately aromatic as the most explosive Côte Blondes, but it has more concentration than most Côte-Rôties this year. A serious wine. Picked before the rain, all destemmed, 5% Viognier.