The Pinnacle of Classic Côte-Rôtie
by Dixon Brooke
The Pinnacle of Classic Côte-Rôtie
by Dixon Brooke
Jean-Paul Jamet began his career in the vineyards of Côte-Rôtie in 1976 at the age of 16, working with his father, Joseph, who bottled his first wine that year. Jean-Paul told us that he often found himself working alongside one of our former growers Marius Gentaz, whose vines in Côte Brune bordered his own. Next year, with the 2026 vintage, Jean-Paul will celebrate his 50th year growing and vinifying Côte-Rôtie. His experience with his enviable collection of roughly twenty lieux-dits spread across the best sites of the appellation has given him deep knowledge of how to unlock the greatest expression of Côte-Rôtie from its wide spectrum of terroirs. This savoir-faire makes Jamet the modern-day master of the appellation.
The Jamet path has been one that has stayed true to tradition as the appellation has modernized around him. Despite its popularity, Jamet always eschewed the use of excessive new oak but instead chose to maintain a cellar full of the traditional aging vessel of Côte-Rôtie: the demi-muid. As the fashion to de-stem Syrah accelerated, Jamet remained firmly opposed, continuing to vinify his Syrah whole-cluster. Perhaps most importantly, Jean-Paul—joined by his wife, Corinne, his daughter, Fanny, and his son, Loïc—has remained committed to his extreme, impossibly steep and rocky, treacherously terraced parcels that can only be worked painstakingly by hand. Planting Côte-Rôtie on the plateau or leveling his vineyards to be able to plant on flatter sites and work them more easily were not part of his repertoire. The Jamets have been avid planters over the past four decades, giving them an incredibly diverse collection of raw material that leaves them poised to continue making great wine uninterrupted for generations to come. Jamet also resisted the urge to produce a series of limited single vineyard cuvées, despite the ease and price at which he knew they could be sold, preferring instead to produce a representative blend of the entire appellation. Their complex, balanced, age-worthy, and classic Côte-Rôtie bottling is the beneficiary of this philosophy, and represents the pinnacle of traditional Côte-Rôtie being produced today.
We are able to import extremely limited quantities of Jamet’s wines. Don’t miss this brief window of availability!
Wines In The Collection
Domaine Jamet France | Northern Rhône
Dark and earthy with an inky grip, it offers the region’s renowned refinement with a more approachable price tag.
France | Northern Rhône
Dark and earthy with an inky grip, it offers the region’s renowned refinement with a more approachable price tag.
France | Northern Rhône
The pinnacle of traditional Côte-Rôtie being produced today.
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