Côte Rôtie, Côte Blonde, 2001

Good deep red-ruby. Explosive, wonderfully sweet aromas of red berries, bacon fat and woodsmoke. Fatter, sweeter and more opulent than the Landonne, but at the same time finer-grained and even more intensely flavored. Today this comes across as less peppery and more fruit-driven. Very rich and very long on the end. Give this three or four years of additional cellaring.