More and more, Lancement is a lieu-dit cropping up on individual bottlings. Garon's 2016 Cote Rotie Lancement is a terrific example, showing off flamboyant aromas of violets, cracked pepper and dried herbs layered atop blackberry fruit. Medium to full-bodied, with a ripe, plush texture, it's drinking well at the moment, but it should easily hold through 2030.

(50% new oak and 50% whole clusters) Vivid purple. Candied cherry, blueberry, Moroccan spices and olive paste on the exotically perfumed nose. Silky, seamless and sweet on the palate, offering juicy, spice-laced black and blue fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors that tighten up slowly on the back half. A smoky mineral note comes up on the strikingly long finish, which is framed by smooth, well-integrated tannins.

The terroir always seems to yield a complex, aromatic style of Côte Rôtie, and the 2016 Côte Rôtie Lancement is just that. Fabulous notes of black raspberries, blackberries, rose petals, decayed flowers, and cured meats all flow to a medium to full-bodied, seamless 2016 that's all about grace and elegance. It has fine tannins but is beautifully balanced and already approachable.