The 2005 Cote Rotie La Belle Helene, from the schist soils of the Cote Brune, probably needs 8-10 years of bottle age, and should keep for 30 or more years. It is made in a style very much like 1998, 1995, or even 1983. Tannic and backward, as those vintages were, this deep ruby/purple-colored wine possesses notes of damp earth, truffle, smoke, asphalt, black cherry, and brooding roasted meat and animal notes. The wine seems to absorb its new oak beautifully, and is powerful, rich, and concentrated, but still tannic and foreboding. This is a wine for the patient connoisseur. Readers will be happy to know that Stephane Ogier will be producing a Condrieu starting in the 2007 vintage.Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083