The excellent 1998 Cote Rotie exhibits a dark ruby color, attractive sweet cassis, black olives, and dried Provencal herb aromas, supple tannin, medium body, and fine concentration. Anticipated maturity: 2000-2012. Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-89000

The 1997 Cote Rotie is a sweet, flattering wine with a textbook black olive, bacon fat, black raspberry, and cherry-scented nose, medium body, an accessible, soft style, and good density and ripeness. There is some tannin, but because of its lower acidity, it comes across as user-friendly. Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900

The dark ruby/purple-colored 1996 Cote Rotie offers attractive herb-tinged cassis, pepper, Asian spices, and bacon fat in the nose, but in the mouth, the wine is strikingly acidic with loads of tannin. It is extremely backward due to its searing acidity level. While I enjoyed many of this wine's characteristics, the acidity scares me - hence the lower rating. Importer: Paterno Imports, Lake Bluff, IL; tel. (847) 604-8900