Gerard Boulay La Cote 2023

First made as a single parcel in 2010, La Côte comes from the majestic La Grande Côte vineyard, a south-southeast facing hillside on the outskirts of Chavignol. La Côte has quickly become one of the heavyweights of Boulay's range. It's the Domaine's coolest terroir and the last to be picked. The site's pure Kimmeridgian limestone and late picking date deliver both density and absurd precision on the palate. Vinified and aged in three and four year old barrels, the terroir here, and the relatively tender age of the vines, deliver a more expressive style, yet one still bristling with tension and mineral notes that fall somewhere between struck flint and iodine. It is fleshy and full yet pulled taut by its natural freshness. There's plenty of stone fruit and ripe apple goodness, and the kind of texture and length that is more typically associated with a certain other 'Côte', roughly three hours drive to the south.