Domaine Rostaing, “Le Vassal”

Any respectable Michelin wine list: Rostaing. Any elite wine bar: Rostaing. Any conversation surrounding the world’s finest Syrahs: Rostaing. Even when it comes to our past Côte-Rôtie offers, no matter the producer, you’ll find us referencing Rostaing, Rostaing, Rostaing time and again. So why haven’t we featured their wines? Until now, they’ve largely been out of our reach—due to a perfect storm of closely guarded allocations and soaring demand—but rest assured, we’re now positioned to place them into our blue-chip rotation.  The idolization of René Rostaing’s wines begins in the 1990s with the inheritance of truly impeccable, cult-status raw material from Marius Gentaz and Albert Dervieux (only the most avid collectors have stumbled upon old cuvées from Gentaz-Dervieux; vintages like ’91 are about as expensive, cherished, and unicorn-rare as Syrah comes). As you can imagine, René had an immense torch to bear when these prized vines were passed down to him three decades ago. In that