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The awesome 1998 Cote Rotie La Mouline is a seamless, full-bodied classic with many characteristics of the 1997 La Landonne , but more structure, tannin, and muscle. It will need two years of cellaring, and will last for twenty years. Stylistically, it is reminiscent of the 1988.These tasting notes will not surprise any longtime readers. I have never made a secret of the fact that if I had only one wine left to drink, I would want it to be one of the great vintages of Guigal's Cote Rotie La Mouline. This wine's aromatic fireworks, sumptuous texture, and seamless personality represent perfection. While the percentage of Viognier blended with Syrah can vary from 8-12% (even higher in a vintage such as 1996), this remains one of the world's most intensely perfumed and compelling wines.Every vintage has its share of bacon fat, toast, cassis, acacia flower, black raspberry, creme de cassis, and tapenade notes. A voluptuous texture, sweet tannin, and a satiny smooth demeanor are hallmarks of La Mouline, whether it's a difficult (1974) or great vintage (1999). As it ages, aromas of violets and peaches also emerge. All of the "La La" offerings (as Guigal's fans call them) are aged 42 months in 100% new Francois Freres barrels, experience minimal racking as well as sulphur, and are bottled with neither fining nor filtration. While critics call them branded wines, they always emerge from the same vineyard parcels. In response to the criticism that they are oaky, virtually no new wood can be detected in the wines after 6-8 years of cellaring.Robert Parker | 97 RPEven though the 42 months this wine has spent in new wood give it an intensely toasty character, the enormously soft, perfumed fruits and ripe, sweet flavors that go along with the wood produce a finely tuned, balanced wine that should age well over many years. As an expression of pure Syrah, there are few better.Wine Enthusiast | 96 WESaturated ruby-red. Sappy raspberry, redcurrant, plum and spices on the nose, lifted by an exotic floral/apricotty viognier note and complicated by woodsmoke, pepper and mint. Penetrating and very tightly wound, with brisk acidity giving this extremely young wine almost painful intensity. A saline, sappy quality and a hint of green pepper underscore the extreme youth of this highly promising wine. This certainly calls for at least a decade of additional aging.Vinous Media | 95+ VMLovely, delicate, elegant Côte-Rôtie. Incredibly expressive, with the floral, cassis, black currant aromas jumping out of the glass. Medium-bodied, supple and caressing, this charmer is worth hunting down, especially for that iron and mineral [i]terroir[n] character. Drink now through 2010. 415 cases made, 75 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 92 WS

I’ve been lucky to have drunk close to a case of the 2009 Côte Rôtie La Landonne, and if there’s a more perfect Syrah out there, I don’t know of it. Revealing a vivid ruby/purple color, it delivers a spectacular bouquet of crème de cassis, smoked meats, graphite, spring flowers, crushed rocks, and hints of bacon fat. Possessing full-bodied richness, a colossal, massive core of fruit, ample polished tannins, and perfectly integrated oak, it’s a thrill a minute due to the opulence and sexiness of the vintage yet promises to last for another 30-40 years. It’s one of the greatest Syrahs ever produced.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThe 2009 Cote Rotie La Landonne is a killer wine. An extravagant bouquet of black truffles, roasted meats, licorice, ground pepper, blackberries, scorched earth and camphor soars from this muscular, dense, over-the-top, serious, masculine La Landonne. Built like Arnold Schwarzenegger was two decades ago, this enormously concentrated bodybuilder of a wine should hit its prime in a decade, and last 40-50 years. This is no trivial boast as the debut vintage of La Landonne, the 1978, is just reaching full maturity at age 34.The Guigal family may be the modern world’s greatest testament to a family-run winery with impeccably high standards, integrity and an uncompromising vision of the future. They continue to push the envelope of quality to greater and greater heights. Marcel Guigal learned it all from his father, Etienne, a legend in the Northern Rhone. Over my three decade plus career, it has been a noteworthy story to watch Marcel’s son, Philippe, take full responsibility for the future direction of this incredible enterprise, if not empire. I have almost unlimited admiration for the Guigals and their ability to produce millions of bottles of inexpensive Cotes du Rhones that are among the finest of the entire Rhone Valley, as well as their portfolio of exquisite whites, reds and roses from the most prestigious appellations in the Rhone. After more than three decades of tasting here, I never cease to be amazed by what they accomplish. I have said this many, many times, but it bears repeating – the magic of the Guigals is not only due to having some extraordinary vineyards in St.-Joseph, Hermitage, Cote Rotie and Condrieu, but also the ability to pay the highest price for purchased grapes and/or wine from which they fashion remarkable blends. The importance of a wine’s upbringing (or, as the French call it, elevage) is the key to understanding the entire Guigal locomotive. No one does it better; no one has done it longer; and no one seems to have the Midas touch for putting the wines in the bottle at precisely the right moment to capture the essence of a wine before it begins to fade or lose its vibrancy. This may sound easy, but to date, no one comes remotely close to what the Guigals consistently do across all fields of play. About a decade ago, Guigal’s white wines began to take on an amazing level of quality and the family continues to augment and increase that quality. Their Cotes du Rhone Blanc, usually a blend of two-thirds Viognier and the rest Clairette and Bourboulenc, has become a reference point for what amazing value and high quality can be achieved in a completely naked, expressive wine. Guigal produces approximately 40% of all the Condrieu made, and he continues to add some exquisite terroirs to his portfolio. For example, he recently bought the vineyard owned by Alain Parent and Gerard Depardieu, Lys de Volant. Guigal can produce two cuvees of white Hermitage, their regular blend of 90% Marsanne and 10% Roussanne, and, in exceptional vintages, a luxury cuvee called Ex-Voto, which is approximately 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne. It spends more time in small new oak than the regular cuvee. From the Northern Rhone, Guigal’s finest values are his Crozes-Hermitage and his lower level cuvees of St.-Joseph, all of which are 100% Syrah. The Crozes-Hermitage comes from hillside vineyards and the St.-Joseph comes from hillsides with decomposed granite soils that are commonplace in the northern half of that sprawling appellation. With the purchase of the estates of Jean-Louis Grippat as well as the holdings of De Vallouit, Guigal increased his estate vineyards in Hermitage. A basic Hermitage cuvee is produced each year, and in the top vintages, a luxury cuvee called Ex-Voto is made. Guigal now owns vineyards in the famed lieux-dits of Les Bessards, Dionnieres, l’Ermite and Le Meal. The regular Hermitage is generally aged for up to three years in small oak casks, about 50% new. When declared, the Ex-Voto is given the same 42 months in 100% new French oak as his three single vineyard Cote Roties (La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque). The Ex-Voto is a blend of fruit from Les Bessards (40%), Les Greffieux (40%) and Les Murets (20%). Guigal produces approximately 300,000 bottles each year of his Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde. We started with the 2008, probably the second worst vintage in the Northern Rhone (2002 being the worst in the last decade). Not a single vineyard wine, but a prodigious Cote Rotie is Guigal’s Cote Rotie Chateau d’Ampuis. Marcel Guigal’s son, Philippe, lives at this estate with his wife and children, and this is also where they cooper their wood barrels made from staves that are air-dried a minimum of three years. This cuvee is always a blend of some of the finest parcels on the hillsides of Cote Rotie, including La Garde, Le Clos, Grande-Plantee, Pommiere, Pavillon, Le Moulin and La Viria. It is aged 38 months in 100% new French oak, and around 2,000 cases are produced in most vintages. The three single vineyard Cote Roties are consistently among the world’s greatest wines. I often find La Mouline to be a so-called “desert island” wine as it was in vintages such as 1978, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2009. La Mouline is made from the oldest vines and is vinified differently than the other single vineyard cuvees, utilizing pump-over techniques as opposed to punching down (La Turque) or immersed cap (La Landonne). To reiterate, the Cote Rotie La Turque comes from the Cote Brune and its upbringing is the same as La Mouline’s, aged 42 months in 100% new French oak, co-fermented with 5-7% Viognier, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. It comes from younger vines as the first vintage was 1985 and that remarkable wine was made from 3-year-old vines (which puts a kink in the French myth that old vines are always the best). As I previously indicated, La Turque is vinified by punching down as opposed to pumping over or the immersed cap fermentation of La Landonne. The third of these prodigious Cote Roties, La Landonne, comes from the Cote Brune. Unlike its siblings, it is 100% Syrah that receives the same upbringing, 42 months in 100% new French oak and bottling with no fining or filtration. The other luxury cuvee, although not a single vineyard wine, is the Hermitage Ex-Voto, which is aged 42 months in 100% new oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered. It is always fashioned from Les Bessards (40%), Les Greffieux (40%), Les Murets (10%) and l’Ermite (10%). The Gigondas and Chateauneuf du Pape produced by Guigal are often excellent, even outstanding wines that sell for a fraction of the price asked for his luxury cuvees of Cote Rotie, Hermitage, Condrieu and St.-Joseph. Guigal’s Gigondas spends around 24-25 months in wood foudres, and includes a great deal of Mourvedre in the blend. The Chateauneuf du Pape, which comes from purchased wine, is aged two years in foudre prior to release. Guigal normally includes a minimum of 10% Mourvedre in the blend, with the balance old vine Grenache. As I have said many times, one of these days the Guigals will purchase a famous estate in Chateauneuf du Pape because Marcel’s father, Etienne, had always said the three greatest appellations of the Rhone Valley were Cote Rotie, Hermitage and Chateauneuf du Pape (few people would disagree).Robert Parker | 100 RPThis delivers a stunningly ripe, pure, polished bolt of plum confiture, along with notes of anise, mocha, blueberry coulis, Black Forest cake and espresso. The finish sports admirable grip for this ripe-styled vintage, with a grounding rod of iron buried deeply. There's fruit and muscle now, with minerality to burn while this is cellared. Best from 2015 through 2040. 1,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 99 WSGlass-staining purple. Explosive aromas of dark berries, fresh violet and anise, with a hint of smokiness in the background. Sappy and incisive on the palate, offering deeply pitched, spice-tinged cassis and bitter cherry flavors accented by bitter herbs. Closes extremely long, with firm tannic grip and alluring sweetness, leaving a zesty mineral note behind. Showing a surprising degree of elegance for the vintage and for this bottling, which is usually the most forbidding of Guigal's big-gun Cote-Roties.Vinous Media | 96 VM

Tasting like the concentrated blood from an aged and grilled strip steak, the 2010 Ermitage Le Pavillon boasts a black/purple color along with creme de cassis, camphor, pen ink, white flower and lead pencil shaving characteristics in its massive, full-bodied personality. It almost defies description because of its ethereal concentration and off-the-charts extract levels. This is not for the faint of heart, or those who lack patience, as it will require 10-15 years of bottle age, and, as previously stated, will keep for 50 or more. There are just over 1,000 cases of the 2010 Le Pavillon, another perfect wine in the constellation of profound wines produced by Michel Chapoutier.In November of this year, Michel Chapoutier finally made the cover of The Wine Spectator. The accompanying article said essentially the same things I had written about over twenty years ago. More importantly, I am thrilled that Chapoutier received this attention because it has long been deserved. History will record that Michel Chapoutier is a revolutionary. He is also a highly emotional man whose infectious love of primitive art, historic books, classical music and, of course, terroir and winemaking are seemingly impossible to harness. Michel Chapoutier was among the first in France to embrace the radical biodynamic agricultural teachings, for which he was initially criticized, but is now praised. He was also the first to print all his labels in Braille, something that cynics considered to be a gimmick, but ask the National Association for the Blind what they think. Coming from a famous family, but moving in a direction unlike any of its previous members, Michel Chapoutier is self-taught. What he has accomplished over the last two decades or more is one of the great wine stories of the modern era. With all his outgoing, boisterous, machine-gun-speed prose that can sometimes sound shockingly cocky, and at other times reminiscent of the famous Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran, there is never a dull moment around Chapoutier., who makes comments such as “Filtering wine is like making love with a condom,” and “Acidifying wine is like putting a suit of armor on the vineyard’s terroir, vintage character and the cepage.” Don’t blame him if his brilliant intellect and shocking vocabulary put his visitors on the defensive. Michel Chapoutier has proven through his genius, the faith of his convictions and backbreaking attention to detail in his vineyards and in the winery that a once moribund negociant (yet with significant vineyard holdings) could become a beacon of inspiration and quality for the entire world. In short, every wine consumer in the world should admire his accomplishments. All of Chapoutier’s lower level 2010 whites and basic reds have long been sold out, so to keep the tasting somewhat limited during my visit, we focused on the more recently released 2010 white and red selections parcellaires and nearly all the 2011s. As for the 2010 selection parcellaire whites, they are spectacular. Le Pavillon, once called Rochefine and owned by Jaboulet-Verchere, consists of 10 acres of pure granite in the famed Les Bessards, which is considered by many to be the single greatest terroir of Hermitage. The Ermitage Le Pavillon, which is meant to age for 50+ years, is Michel Chapoutier’s legacy, and he is confident that history will support his belief in this extraordinary wine. Michel Chapoutier is not alone in believing the 2011s may resemble a more modern day version of 1991. That vintage was largely underrated by just about everybody (except yours truly) because all the accolades and hyperbole were largely bestowed on both 1989 and 1990 (deservedly), but in the Northern Rhone 1991 turned out to be a strikingly superb vintage for Cote Rotie, Hermitage, Cornas and Condrieu. In the Southern Rhone, the vintage was largely a disaster. Following is an overview of what to expect with the inexpensive 2011 whites and reds. Most of these wines do not have the weight, power or tannic structure of the 2010s, but they are by no means diluted or wimpish wines. They tend to be charming, fruit-forward and seductive, and thus may be preferred by consumers looking for immediate gratification. Although the first few wines reviewed are Southern Rhones, they need to be covered because they are in bottle, and I did not review them in issue 203. Along with several other producers, Michel Chapoutier has helped increase the world’s attention to the long-forgotten, microscopic appellation of St.-Peray. Chapoutier produces a bevy of St.-Perays under his own name as well as in partnership with two three-star chefs, Sophie Pic, of the Restaurant Pic in Valence (as well as several culinary branches in Paris and Lausanne, Switzerland), and Yannick Alleno, the brilliant chef at the Hotel Le Meurice’s in Paris. The red 2011 selections parcellaires are already fruit-forward and seductive. Readers should love them as they are much more evolved than the more structured, powerful, dense, tannic 2010s.Robert Parker | 100 RP(M Chapoutier, Le Pavillon, Hermitage, Rhône, France, Red) Sometimes the setting in which you taste a wine helps to fix it in your mind. I tasted this at the Chapel of Saint Christopher on the hill of Hermitage, looking down over the vineyards - a magical spot at the best of times. I was expecting this to be quite closed and introspective, but it’s already unfurling, and beginning its first drinking window, quite mature in colour, open and ready for business. It has a beautifully aromatic nose, complex notes of plum, blackberry, glove leather, black olive tapenade and a little hedgerow. Very fresh and alive. Great impact and concentration on the palate, remarkably saline, very intense, but so lively and vivid. Texturally it’s velvety, saline, bright and pixelated. Long finish. A hugely complex and dynamic wine, the spirit of Hermitage. (Drink between 2020-2034)Decanter | 99 DECDensely packed, with zesty loganberry, blueberry coulis, plum skin and blackberry paste flavors, presenting a hefty backdrop of ganache and graphite that takes over on the very long finish. A lovely alder note echoes in the background. Best from 2018 through 2028. 43 cases imported. — JMWine Spectator | 97 WSInky purple. Heady, exotically perfumed aromas of ripe dark berries, candied flowers, Indian spices and cracked pepper. Stains the palate with intense blackberry and boysenberry flavors, picking up a sweet violet pastille note with aeration. Dense but lively and strikingly precise given its concentration. Shows superb finishing energy and focus, closing with amazing length and slow-building, harmonious tannins. This wine is built for the long haul; I wouldn’t touch it for at least another decade.Vinous Media | 96 VM