Côte-Rôtie Coteaux de Bassenon 2016, Jean-Michel Stéphan

Côte-Rôtie Coteaux de Bassenon 2016, Jean-Michel Stéphan

Name: Côte-Rôtie Coteaux de Bassenon 2016, Jean-Michel Stéphan - Le Roux Vins
Brand: 0.75 L
SKU: VRCTJMS2016
Price: 104.00 CHF
Availability: InStock

CHF 104.00

Côte-Rôtie Coteaux de Bassenon 2016, Jean-Michel Stéphan: The Conscience of the Côte-Rôtie

The 2016 vintage in the Northern Rhône was a vintage of precision — cooler temperatures, perfect ripeness, no excess. For Jean-Michel Stéphan, the appellation’s uncomfortable outsider-genius, it was the ideal frame for his iconic Coteaux de Bassenon: the southernmost parcel of his estate, on steep granite and gneiss terroir, planted with Sérine — the original, wild ancestral Syrah of the Côte-Rôtie — in 1896. Zero sulphur. Zero compromise. A wine that polarises and enchants in equal measure.

What’s it Like?

In the glass, it shows a deep, opaque ruby with a violet rim. The nose is an experience in itself: blackcurrant, plum, bramble, wild violets, wet leather, fresh herbs, sandalwood and a dark mineral depth drawn from pure granite. On the palate it is full-bodied, with vibrant acidity and fine, well-integrated tannins. Electrifyingly fresh, bold and complex — a wine that breathes and evolves hour by hour in the glass. Decanting for at least 2 hours is strongly recommended.

Serving temperature: 16–17°C ·
Drinking window: now through 2032, in its prime

Perfect For

Hunters, cooks, adventurers. Its wild, earthy profile calls for braised venison with forest mushrooms and juniper, a rustic wood-fire entrecôte, or a well-aged Comté — dishes that carry as much character as the wine itself.

The Critics Agree…

Stéphan is one of the most respected natural wine pioneers in the Northern Rhône. The 2016 Coteaux de Bassenon earned 91 points with a consistently upward trajectory among connoisseurs. Experts describe it as “electrifying” — with a purity that has no equivalent in the appellation. Falstaff praised the 2016 cuvée for its “powerful minerality and intense fruit.”

What is it? A natural wine masterpiece from the oldest parcel in the Côte-Rôtie, by one of the most radical winemakers in the Northern Rhône.
From? Côte-Rôtie, Northern Rhône, France (AOC).
Grapes? 40% Sérine (original Syrah, vines planted 1896), 40% Syrah, 20% Viognier.
Tastes Like? Blackcurrant, bramble, violet, leather, granite and wild herbs.
Critics score? 91/100 Falstaff / 91/100 Wine-Searcher critics average.

2 in stock

SKU: VRCTJMS2016 Categories: 0.75 L, Let's Barbecue, Red Wines, Rhone, Shiraz

Côte-Rôtie Coteaux de Bassenon 2016, Jean-Michel Stéphan

Jean-Michel Stéphan: The Quiet Rebel of Tupin-et-Semons

Some winemakers make wine. And then there is Jean-Michel Stéphan — a man who lives wine, breathes it, understands it in a way that nobody else in the Côte-Rôtie practices.

The story does not begin with him. It begins with his grandfather, a farmer who planted vines at the edge of his vegetable garden to mark his boundary from the neighbour’s land. At a time when the steep hillsides of the Côte-Rôtie were considered so unimportant that they were given away for free alongside the purchase of flat, fertile farmland. Nobody wanted those slopes. Nobody except those who loved them.

Jean-Michel decided to take those slopes seriously. In 1991 he took over two hectares of vines. He trained with Jean-Paul Brun in Beaujolais — the school of natural wine, of carbonic freshness, of respect for the living must. Then he returned to Tupin-et-Semons and did something radical: he made Côte-Rôtie with no sulphur. No filtration. No compromise.

That was 1994. His colleagues thought he was mad.

At the time, a sulphur-free Côte-Rôtie was unthinkable. The appellation was known for its structured, tannic, often heavily oaked wines — wines you had to forget in a cellar for years. Stéphan did the opposite: living, vibrating, pulsing wines that draw their energy from the soil rather than the barrel.

The Sérine: A Treasure Saved from Oblivion

The heart of his estate is the Sérine — the original, pre-phylloxera Syrah of the Côte-Rôtie, finer, more complex and more volatile than modern clones. On the Bassenon parcel, Sérines planted in 1896 are still producing. 130-year-old vines. Roots that plunge into the granite deeper than you can imagine. Yield: minimal. Intensity: maximal.

These old vines give no quantity. They give character. They give history. They give a flavour you will not find anywhere else in the world.

Bassenon: The Parcel at the Edge of the World

The Coteaux de Bassenon sits at the far southern end of the appellation, facing the vineyards of Condrieu. The terroir is complex: ancient Rhône alluvium, glacial moraine, dark biotite granite, leucogneiss — a geological mosaic that gives the wine its incomparable, almost electric minerality.

Here, everything is done by hand. On some terraces, no tractor can pass. So a horse pulls the plough. Or a man walks on foot. Stéphan does not call this romantic. He calls it necessary.

A Wine Without a Mask

No SO2. No added yeasts. No filtration. No fining. Stéphan’s wines are radically transparent — what the grape gives arrives in the glass. Which means: in a great year like 2016, the wine is breathtaking. In a difficult year, it can be austere. That is not a weakness. That is honesty.

In some circles, Jean-Michel Stéphan is considered the greatest Syrah winemaker in the world. You can debate that. But anyone who has drunk a Bassenon — truly drunk it, with time, with air, with patience — understands why.