2020 Jean Michel Stephan "Les Binardes" Cotie Rotie

93pts Josh Raynolds, Vinous

Deep, vivid ruby. Vibrant, spice-accented red and dark berries on the nose, along with suggestions of smoky bacon and potpourri. Juicy and energetic in the mouth, offering bitter cherry, black raspberry and spicecake flavors that deepen steadily through the midpalate. Shows fine definition and spicy thrust on a long, subtly chewy finish that's framed by fine-grained, even tannins

Wine Advocate Estate Summary

For over a decade, Jean-Michel Stephan, a resolutely organic/bio-dynamic domaine, has been developing a full-on cult following of natural wine enthusiasts. But the “natural wine” description shouldn’t imply a not unjustifiable fear of overt funkiness, at least these days. That was not the case back then, when Stephan’s wines were as out there as Côte-Rôtie could get. Today, Stephan produces from 4.5 hectares of vines, plus another five outside the appellation. A large, modern winery was built next door to the original Tupin-et-Semons cellar that came online just in time for the 2021 harvest. I do not doubt that this will help the family further enhance their wines’ already increasingly high quality. Prices have been moving upward rapidly. While Stephan’s wines (made with as little sulfur as possible and often with some carbonic maceration) still lean to the wild side, they are now significantly less feral than they were in the past.