Domaine Pierre Jean Villa, Côte Rôtie 'Carmina' 2020

Pierre-Jean Villa is a Northern Rhone native, born just outside of the village of Condrieu to a farming family. Fascinated with all things wine, he initially went into the commercial side of the trade before taking the leap into production and starting Domaine Pierre Jean Villa in his native Northern Rhone in 2009. Since then, he has garnered a reputation as one of the region's rising stars and, simply put, makes sensationally good wine. Côte Rôtie 'Carmina' 2020 is named for the Latin word for poem, a fitting name for a wine that expresses the poetic beauty of the Côte Rôtie terroir. Made from 100% Syrah from the exceptional 2020 vintage, the grapes were hand-harvested, hand-sorted, and aged for 24 months in French oak prior to release. A pronounced nose of black plum, cherry, black pepper, violet, smoke and blackberry moves to a full, rich palate with strong yet silky tannins and heaps of dark fruity-savoury flavours. It is an absolutely exceptional wine and one which will only continue to get better over the next 20 years.