Pierre Jean Villa 2017 Cote Rotie "Carmina" 750ml

Saturated, bright-rimmed violet. An assertively perfumed bouquet displays mineral-accented black and blue fruit and wisteria scents, and olive, smoky bacon and exotic spice notes emerge with air. In a concentrated yet lively style, offering appealingly sweet, spice-laced cherry, black raspberry and candied lavender flavors that are braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Shows superb clarity and mineral thrust on an impressively long, floral-accented finish framed by fine-grained, slow-building tannins. Made from fruit grown in two parcels in the Côte Brune; 50% whole clusters.

Score: 94 points -- Josh Raynolds, Vinous, 2020

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Pierre Jena Villa is a native of the Northern Rhone, but spent years working in Burgundy at Clos de Tart and Domaine de la Vougeraie before returning home and eventually establishing his own operation. His Burgundian training helps to explain his focus on elegance and exactitude in a region whose wines often display more power than precision. Villas Syrahs have complex bouquets and round, balanced palates that will develop gracefully with age.