Côte-Bodin Côte-Rotie

Domaine Jean-Michel Gerin is a family owned winery located in the heart of Côte Rôtie, near the village of Ampuis in the Rhône Valley. Hailing from a family of grape growers, Jean Michel established his eponymous winery in 1983, the first in his family to make wine. While he sources much of his fruit from family owned vineyards dating back to his grandfather’s time, he has also purchased land along the way, buying his first vineyard in the famed ‘Les Grandes Places’ in 1988, followed by a second purchase in ‘La Landonne.’ Today, the estate covers a little more than 30 acres in the Côte Rôtie appellation and much smaller plots in Condrieu and the northern Rhône, which Jean-Michel farms alongside his two sons, Michäel and Alexis.

Côte-Bodin is sourced from a 0.7ha plot in the Côte-Rôtie, located in the middle of the hill on schist soils, with thee different exposures: East, South and Southwest. Planted by Jean-Michel in 1987, he rented the land from then until 2017, when he was able purchase the vineyard.

Formerly used for blending in the Champin Le Seigneur cuvée, it is now vinified and aged as a unique bottling. Gerin uses native yeasts for all their wines. The wine is aged for 22 months in barrique, 20% new oak, 80% in 1-3-year-old barrels.

This is a mineral-driven, energetic wine with an appealing sanguine-like profile. The eastern exposure of the Côte-Bodin plot provides great freshness and acidity to the wine, where vines planted on the southern exposure give power and strong tannins. Spice and beautiful maturity from vines planted on the southwestern exposure round out this powerful wine. The terroir is forcibly apparent, while the oak treatment helps to round out the profile slightly. Blackberry and blueberry compote on the nose, backed by violette flowers.