Pierre Jean Villa, Côte-Rôtie (Rhône Valley, France) 2009

 Pierre Jean Villa is an experienced vintner with a track record built in Burgundy and the Northern Rhône, though he started his own domaine as recently as 2009.  He is quite obviously off to a flying start, as demonstrated by this very impressive wine.  It shows impressive richness and depth of flavor, but these aren’t purchased at the price of excessive ripeness or heaviness.  Dark berry fruit notes are accented by whiffs of toast and smoke as well as cured meat, and though the tannins are relatively round (as is generally the case with Northern Rhône Syrah in 2009), it will take 5 years for this wine to really integrate its oak and develop the tertiary aromas that will mark its maturity.  When it reaches that point, it may very well merit a score even higher than the one that I’ve awarded here.