Rene Rostaing
La Landonne
Cote Rotie
2016

The producer

René Rostaing is one of Côte Rôtie’s finest producers, with 7.5 hectares of old vine Syrah in the appellation. The estate dates back to 1971 and today the estate produces four single-vineyard reds—La Landonne, Côte Blonde, Côte Brune, and La Viaillere. Rene’s son, Pierre Rostaing, who took over in 2015 after training with Dominique Lafon in Meursault, has introduced a refined, Burgundian influence while staying true to the region’s tradition.

The wines are aged mainly in 600-litre demi-muid casks to allow for gentle micro-oxygenation, with less than 10% new oak used to keep the oak nuances subtle. This technical approach results in wines that clearly express the unique terroir of Côte Rôtie with precision and elegance, and with the estate’s unique perfumed intensity and combination of delicacy and power clearly shining through. 

The winemaking process results in a wine that not only reflects the complex terroir of Côte Rôtie but also showcases a sophisticated balance between power and perfumed elegance, in true Rostaing style.

The wine

Sourced from old Syrah vines planted on the iron-rich schist slopes of the famed La Landonne vineyard, the wine reflects meticulous vineyard work and a deep respect for terroir. Rostaing employs sustainable viticulture and partial whole-cluster fermentation using indigenous yeasts, allowing for natural complexity and structure. The wine undergoes a long maceration and is aged for around 18 months in mostly used oak barrels (only about 10–15% new), ensuring that the purity of the fruit and site shines through.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.