Domaine Yves Cuilleron

The eponymous soils are mainly schistous in the so-called Brune half of the appellation, indeed they are not far removed from Côte Brune itself. The palate is dominated by blue fruit, bay leaf and cooked meat; its linear profile underlined by a distinctive gunflint finish. Explosive, but in a carefully controlled fashion.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer 

Yves Cuilleron compares 2012 to 2011; for him the vintage has more concentration and power than its immediate forebear. His house philosophy, whether by accident or design, mirrors the current fashions for later harvests and the addition of a varying degree of stems. Both engender structure and complexity when treated with due respect. Given that there is not the remotest sign of the green on the one hand or the over-ripe on the other, we can infer conspicuous success in these wines. 

The Bessenon vineyard is located next to an eponymous stream, which flows through the southern commune of Tupin-Semons. With soil based on gneiss and granite, the wine contains 10 percent of Viognier, and is, stylistically, from the more elegant and floral end of the spectrum. The 2013 will have been aged in barrique for 18 months on release and boasts the elegant violet aromatics that one has come to love from this appellation.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer

Dynamic and energetic, Yves sometimes gives the impression of trying too hard: there is so much activity and so many wines, why can’t the message be clearer? Well, my message is clear and it underlines the overall quality of the range, proved once again by a recent (late 2014) Decanter tasting which put M Cuilleron's Côte Rôtie on its own at the very top of the tree. Pragmatism over the hot topic of destemming and a general inclination to harvest late are cited as two cornerstones of the Cuilleron philosophy. Yves praises the equilibrium of his 2013 whites, and is pleased with both the colour and the tannic structure of his reds.

The Côte Brune vineyards of Les Roziers and Les Rochains, near to La Landonne itself, provide the fruit for this perennial favourite. The wine is dark and tight, with intense aromas of thyme, licorice and smoked meat. The complexity continues onto the palate and underwrites ageing potential. Yves is particularly pleased with the tannic structure in 2010, which he compares to the under-rated 2006; very fine in other words, but more than a match for the greater levels of concentration achieved his year.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012

Our visit to Yves this year, despite its first-after-lunch graveyard slot, was one of the best of them all. Perhaps it was a fruit day! The wines were singing and Yves was composed and confident, clearly very happy with the vintage. For him the long ripening season of 2010, with its significant diurnal temperature variations, was the key to quality. The vigneron’s Grand Master chess skills were fully exercised in the decision of when to harvest… a tricky decision of course, each plot being different, but now, finally I understand the purpose of each of the many varied cuvées in the range and there appears to be some stability and a real sense of purpose in the winemaking….and not too much new oak now…..The enfant terrible has really come of age...

The Côte Brune vineyards of Les Roziers and Les Rochains, near to La Landonne itself, provide the fruit for this perennial favourite. The wine is dark and tight, with intense aromas of thyme, liquorice and smoked meat. The complexity continues onto the palate and underwrites ageing potential. This vintage, for Yves, shares the family traits of 2010 and even the under-rated 2006 (which is delicious now); very fine pedigree, in other words, but perhaps more elegant than so-called sunshine years such as 2009 or the irredeemably tannic 2005. Drink 2020-2026.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Madinière is the name of the stream which dissects the hillsides of the north of Côte Rôtie; its vineyards are planted at 10,000 plants per hectare, its wines for me always the archetype of schistous northerly terroir, that is to say with a velvety, peppery grip and a rich black fruit personality. The 2016 is a little longer than the broad and fulsome 2015, wonderfully fresh with violets and hedgerow belying eighteen months of barrique ageing. Pure and powerful; powerfully persuasive. Drink 2020-2025.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer