Bernard Levet farms 3.5 hectares of vines above the village of Ampuis. He owns vines in some of the most prestigious real estate in the Côte-Rôtie appellation, including the famed parcels “Moulin” and “Landonne.” These properties have been in the family since the 1930s and are still farmed in exactly the same manner: no tractors, no chemicals—everything is done by hand. Following harvest, fruit is left in whole clusters for fermentation in large tanks. The process of macerating grapes and carrying the juice through alcoholic and malolactic fermentation is always slow, and rarely completed until the new year. Levet’s wine is aged in medium-sized demi-muid barrels for three years before bottling and further aging until release—the entire process generally takes four years. This gradual, delicate approach in the cellar produces nuanced and aromatically complex wines with enormous potential for cellar aging. I’ve enjoyed numerous bottles of Levet Côte-Rôtie from decades past, but never once has a bottle struck me as tired or over-the-hill. These wines are delicious in their youth but they absolutely roar with some additional time in the cellar!

In 2014, Bernard Levet’s “Les Journaries” brings all the dark cherry fruit and exotic turkish coffee/olive/garrigue aromatics that sommeliers and collectors have grown to love. This is an inimitable and instantly recognizable wine for anyone with broad experience tasting Northern Rhône reds; there’s nothing else like it. Still, in 2014, there seems to be an extra plumpness and softness to the fruit that I love. I applaud Levet for bottling some of this region’s best candidates for extended cellar aging, but in 2014, remarkably, this bottle is already drinking quite well! So, while it will surely improve with time, I welcome you to pull the cork today and enjoy after no time in the decanter. Again, this is an objectively delicious wine that is priced far below its peers, so don’t feel any  need to skimp on it just because it’s rare and says “Côte-Rôtie” on the label. I’m grabbing some bottles for my cellar, and an armful more for drinking over the next year—I’m not even saving them for special meals or occasions! Case in point: I drained my first bottle in between bites of grilled lamb burgers while watching basketball. This is a gorgeous wine; don’t overthink it!