Domaine Yves Cuilleron Côte-Rôtie 'Bassenon' Syrah Viognier 2024

Domaine Yves Cuilleron Côte-Rôtie 'Bassenon' Syrah Viognier is a perfumed, silky red from the southern edge of the appellation.

A hectare and a half of south-facing terraces on the Coteau de Semons, above the stream that lends the plot its name, supplies granite and gneiss soils and about a tenth Viognier alongside the Syrah. Hand-picking, a three-week ferment in open vats and a year and a half in barriques follow.

Red berries and violets lift the nose, while the palate stays fresh and airy with fine, quietly present tannins. Open it an hour ahead, serve at 16°C, and pair with roast duck, lamb or a herb-crusted rack of veal.

*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.

Type: Red Wine
Style: Full-bodied, dry
Grape Varietal: Syrah 90%, Viognier 10%
Tastes Like: Côte-Rôtie, the northern Rhône's benchmark for Syrah
Size: 750mL
Appellation: Côte-Rôtie AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée: France's protected appellation system; Côte-Rôtie, the 'roasted slope', is the northernmost red appellation of the Rhône, where Syrah may be blended with a little Viognier)
Region: Southern Côte-Rôtie, northern Rhône, France
Terroir: Terraces of granite and gneiss facing south, in the south of the appellation
Aging: 18 months in barriques
Serving Temperature: 16-18°C

Domaine Yves Cuilleron is a family estate at Chavanay, in the northern Rhône valley between Condrieu and Saint-Joseph. Yves's grandfather Claude Cuilleron founded it in 1920 and began bottling the wines in 1947; Yves's uncle Antoine took over in 1960, and Yves took charge in 1987 with just 3.5 hectares in Condrieu and Saint-Joseph. He made his first Côte-Rôtie in 1988, bought vines in Saint-Péray and Cornas in 2006 and in Crozes-Hermitage from 2012, and the domaine now makes wine across six of the northern Rhône's appellations. In 1996 Yves also co-founded Les Vins de Vienne with two neighbouring growers, Pierre Gaillard and François Villard.

Bassenon comes from the south of Côte-Rôtie, from terraces of granite and gneiss that face south. It blends Syrah with around one part in ten of Viognier, and it is aged for 18 months in barriques. It is a generous Côte-Rôtie for hearty dishes with cheese and potatoes.

Cheese dishes: Aligot with roast pork or a grilled steak
Beef: Beef skewers with rosemary
Poultry: Roast guinea fowl with bacon
Vegetables: Baked potatoes with mushrooms and thyme

Tomme fraîche de l'Aubrac: The fresh curd that makes aligot stretch
Laguiole: Firm cheese from the Aubrac plateau
Cantal: The Auvergne's great firm cheese
Saint-Nectaire: Washed-rind cheese from the Auvergne volcanoes

Aligot (Aubrac Cheese and Potato Purée)

Ingredients (Serves 4):

• 1kg floury potatoes (such as Sebago or Dutch Cream), peeled
• 100g butter
• 200mL pouring cream (or crème fraîche)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 400g tomme fraîche (or a mix of young Cantal and mozzarella, grated)
• Salt and white pepper
• Roast pork, a grilled steak or sausages, to serve

Instructions:

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water with the garlic until very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well.
2. Pass the potatoes and garlic through a ricer or mouli back into the pan (don't use a food processor).
3. Over low heat, beat in the butter and cream with a wooden spoon until smooth. Season.
4. Add the cheese a handful at a time, beating hard in a figure-of-eight and lifting the spoon high, until the purée turns glossy and stretches into long ribbons, 5-8 minutes.
5. Serve straight away, piled next to roast pork, a steak or sausages.

Aligot is said to have been first made by the monks of the Aubrac plateau in the Auvergne, who beat fresh curd into mashed potato until it stretches like elastic. It is the great cheese dish of central France. A generous Côte-Rôtie with a share of Viognier has the body for the rich purée and the freshness to cut through the butter and cheese.