The Northern Rhône has a handful of producers who are a must-have for us as specialized Rhône importer. Jamet is such name and their Côte-Rôtie is in my view one of the best of the appellation. Until recently this domain seemed inaccessible, but with the brothers Jean-Luc and Jean-Paul Jamet breaking up in 2013, a wonderful opportunity has arisen.The family domain was started by Joseph Jamet in 1950 with only 0.35 ha of vineyard. Like many others, the harvest was initially sold to the négociants. Their first botteling took place in 1976. Late 80's the domain was taken over by the sons: they expanded and established an international reputation. There was a clear dividing in tasks: Jean-Luc worked the vineyards, while Jean-Paul was responsible for the wine making and commerce. Although Jean-Luc remained therefore somewhat in the shadow, his contribution to the international fame of this domain is evident. John Livingstone, Rhone expert wrote the following about this: "Given that Jean-Luc was almost entirely the vineyard man under the old, united family domain, I have been agreeably impressed by the wines, which have got going since their debut."With half of the vineyards, but without a cellar or the right to the domain name, Jean-Luc had to re-position himself. To finance the construction of a new cellar, he was forced to sell a substantial (but declining) part of the 2013-2015 harvest to the négociants. His first Côte-Rôtie 2013 was not entirely to his satisfactory, among other things due to the use of 100% new barrels. After three harvests, while finding his way in the cellar, with the harvest of 2016 he considered himself ready for international expansion. This was the moment we join-in, but not before we had completed a five-hour tasting session and a visit to the vineyards to.Of a total of 8 ha, 4 ha Côte-Rôtie are classified. The 10 different plots on major slopes such as Lancement, La Landonne, Fongeant, Côte Bodin and Les Moutonnes, are schist-dominated and are all processed into one cuvée "Les Terasses". He also has 2 hectares of Côte du Rhône (red and white) and IGP-classified plots (Valine) on the plateau around his house and cellar. The ripeness of the fruit determines the harvest time and Jean-Luc is (together with his brother) one of the last in the region. The plots are partly fermented together and gradually "cross over" assembled and mounted. In addition to the use of a maximum of 20% new barrels (demi-muids and pièces) and 20 to 22 months of barrel aging, to gain complexity, Jean-Luc chooses to ferment 1/3 part in whole clusters.The wines have a floral and mineral character in their youth and excel (as with the other Jamet) in elegance and complexity. In fact, the whole approach is not substantially different than before and the same goes for the wines. With the break of the brothers, the world now has two top Côte-Rôtie domains, with nuance differences, but both of unprecedented finesse and sublimity. So yes, we have Jamet too!