Côte Rôtie or Hermitage or Cornas
(Outstanding)
Summary
A crushed fruit fermentation wine, where hand-harvested and heavily sorted grapes are destemmed and allowed a cold soaking to increase color extraction before ambient yeast ferment the wine to dryness at warm temperatures, with a portion of the stems included. Post-fermentation maceration for further extraction is common, before pressing and racking into oak barrel (large cask or even small barrels with a portion new, depending on the producer), where malolactic conversion will occur. Ageing of up to 18 months in oak is common, adding texture and oak aromas, and any fining or filtration will be light before bottling in glass under premium cork.