Ogier's luxury offering, Cuvee Belle Helene, is a Cote Rotie that sees 100% new oak, and emerges from his holdings near La Landonne in a vineyard called Cote Rozier. This wine spends a whopping 30 months in new oak prior to being bottled unfiltered. There are 125 cases of the 1998, of which 20 are allocated for the United States! The wine is sumptuous, but it will obviously be almost impossible to find. This wine enjoys malolactic in barrique. The 1998 Cote Rotie Cuvee Belle Helene boasts an opaque black/purple color as well as a tight but promising nose of new saddle leather, roasted meats, dried herbs, black fruits, and minerals. It is extremely full-bodied, super-concentrated, ferociously backward and tannic, and possesses sufficient extract, fruit, and depth to balance out the wine's structure. This classic, gorgeously proportioned Cote Rotie will last for a generation. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2025. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083