Domaine Gilles Barge, Côte-Rôtie (Rhône Valley, France) 2016

 I tasted three utterly different bottlings of Côte-Rôtie from this well-respected house’s 2016 lineup, including a quite gamy “Le Combard,” a woody but still balanced Côte Brune (probably Barge’s best-known wine) and this intricate, lovely Côte Blonde, which was my clear favorite.  Why it was poured third in order wasn’t easy to understand on account of its modest size and much less pushy character by comparison to the other two, but the finish was so pure and detailed that I came to see the wisdom of saving the best for last, a full minute after it first passed my lips.  Wonderfully fine juice, in a vintage that is all about fine-ness.