Meaty and rich, with notes of Asian spices, espresso roast, creosote, blackberries, and cherries, the 2001 Cote Rotie La Turque is an earthy, powerful, tannic effort with a long, heady, rich finish, and crisper acids than the 2000. Give it 5-8 years of cellaring, and consume it over the following 20-25 years. Importer: Fred Ek and Patrick Will, Ex Cellars Wine Agencies, Solvang, CA; tel. (805) 686-9153

Meaty and rich, with notes of Asian spices, espresso roast, creosote, blackberries, and cherries, the 2001 Cote Rotie La Turque is an earthy, powerful, tannic effort with a long, heady, rich finish, and crisper acids than the 2000. Give it 5-8 years of cellaring, and consume it over the following 20-25 years. Importer: Fred Ek and Patrick Will, Ex Cellars Wine Agencies, Solvang, CA; tel. (805) 686-9153

This is still rather shuttered, with coffee and dark tarry grip up front holding the core of roasted fig, bay leaf, dark olive and anise in check. There's terrific underlying grip perfectly embedded in the fleshy fruit, and the length is very impressive, despite how tight this still is. Patience.—Non-blind 2001 Cote-Rotie retrospective (April 2011). Best from 2013 through 2030. 350 cases made. -JM