Domaine Pierre Gaillard Côte-Rôtie 2020

Domaine Pierre Gaillard Côte-Rôtie is a co-fermented Syrah and Viognier drawn from schist and gneiss parcels at the northern end of the Rhône.

Côte-Rôtie occupies the steep terraced slopes above Ampuis on the right bank of the river, and its rules allow Syrah to be co-fermented with a proportion of the white grape Viognier; here that share is ten per cent. Pierre Gaillard began assembling his holdings in the 1980s and works from a base at Malleval, with vines across several northern Rhône appellations. The fruit for this wine comes from the schist soils of Fongeant and Viallière in Ampuis, together with a parcel planted on gneiss at Semons in the south of the appellation. Everything is picked by hand with a strict selection of bunches and berries. The grapes are fully destemmed and given a five-day cold soak before fermentation, then worked with regular punch-downs rather than hard extraction. The wine spends 18 months in barrique, half of it new, and is bottled unfiltered.

Perfumed and unusually approachable young, it will also reward a decade in the cellar; serve at 16–18°C with roast duck, slow-cooked lamb shoulder or peppered beef.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.