Domaine Barge Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde

This was truly awful. I’m rating it because I couldn’t detect a specific flaw. Tasted of oak and vanilla extract. There was a cherry popsicle fruit flavor, but nothing here that tasted of place or varietal. Super disappointing. Poured down the drain after a couple sips….

Coravin tasting, 96 potential at present, 93/95 Bottle kept at the estate and not labelled ... light coloured, evanescent nose of spicy red berries, hints of oak and vanilla, orange peel sticks in chocolate milk, dried herbes, it is complex and fresh... extremely appealing Syrah spicy nose... (95+) Palate is fresh and vibrant, even light for Cote Rotie Crus, but it is refined and elegant with a pushing length... Stays for over a minute and never dries out through tannins …

Barge dinner : Thought this was the weakest in the Barge line-up. Surprisingly had some unintegrated, creamy oak with some VA on the nose. Palate had very primary and youthful red fruit but didn’t really develop over dinner, needed more structure.

Pale ruby. Beautiful nose from the second I popped the cork. Violet, wet grass, red berry, strawberry. Palette not quite as lifted. Herbal/medicinal, red berries, just a hint of tannic bitterness, but I don’t get the sense that this is one to wait much longer for. Balanced and structured, I believe it’s in its drinking window now. Whatever it’s slightly lacking in elegance, it makes up for in its clean and straightforward profile. An upright wine.

Opened and decanted an hour+ before serving. Bright black fruit aromas with subtle floral notes, black pepper, and meaty spice. Great nose mostly follows through on palate, just still firm and slightly backward. Better with more time. This gradually opened up, but was still firm when finished.

Fresh, vibrant, flowery, and filled with smoky red fruits, herbs and spice, the wine is medium-bodied, crisp, and lifted, with a long, smoky finish. Drink from 2022-2035.

herbal, raspberry, tea leaves, pepper. palate is clean, good fruit and well balanced, medium red fruit finish. very enjoyable

Fine, but underperformed relative to expectations. A trial bottle alongside some other young northern Rhones, this was the fanciest terroir and least exciting. Technically fine, surprisingly light bodied, but clean and really just lacking in any cote rotie typicity. Maybe just shut down, but no need for me to find out.

Pro tasting, with Julien Barge and some customers, not much more impressive than the Du Plessy or Combard, just a different expresssion of the location, so refined, discretion, peppery, flowery, palate is smooth, quite tart, biting, long finish, with olive and tapenade, bruit the juicyness is the major event here, great wine, 5/8 years. But with decanter it shows well already. Keeper

Découvertes en Vallée du Rhône; 4/15/2019-4/16/2019 (Ampuis, Mauves and Tain-l'Hermitage) : Walk-around tasting, talking to the producers. 5% Viognier. Such bright fruit with more depth vs Combard just tasted. Fully engaging and enticing. Cellar a few years, with 91-92 point potential.