Northern Rhone Wines

wines

Doing everything right and one of the best young wines I’ve ever tasted, the 2005 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline offers extraordinarily complex and nuanced aromatics of smoked bacon, chocolate, toast, and hints of flowers that are integrated perfectly with the deep raspberry and blackberry fruit profile that only Côte-Rôtie can deliver. Full bodied, dense, concentrated, and seamless on the palate, with a gorgeously suave and silky texture, perfect balance, and ultra fine tannin structure. Despite the structure here, this maintains a subtle elegance and weightlessness that is nothing short of captivating. An awesome wine, I would cellar bottles for a decade, and then drink over the following 20 or so years.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDSimilar to the powerful 1988, the inky/purple-colored, dense 2005 Cote Rotie La Mouline offers a stunning perfume of espresso roast, licorice, pepper, blackberries, and black cherries intermixed with hints of chocolate and spring flowers. Powerful, super-concentrated, and ruggedly-constructed with a boatload of tannin, this is a wine to forget for 4-5 years, and drink over the following 25-30. It is the densest, most tannic vintage of La Mouline since 1988.Robert Parker | 100 RPExtremely dense, with Turkish coffee and bittersweet cocoa notes leading the way for a huge core of macerated plum and currant fruit, with warm fig reduction and hoisin sauce notes. The long, graphite- and toast-driven finish sails on and on. Best from 2012 through 2030. 415 cases made.Wine Spectator | 99 WSVivid ruby. Sexy black raspberry and floral aromas are complicated by smoky minerals, Asian spices and a whiff of smoke. Silky, alluringly sweet red and dark berry flavors pack serious punch but come off as weightless, with tangy minerality adding spine and precision. Showing more elegance than last year: its finishing lift, clarity and sweetness comes across as distinctly Burgundian. This suave wine is surprisingly open-knit but I'd wait a while before opening a bottle.Vinous Media | 96 VM

Another perfect wine is the 2009 Cote Rotie La Turque. It possesses a slightly denser purple color than the opaque Cote Rotie La Mouline as well as notes of Asian spices, roasted meats, bouquet garni, spring flowers, camphor and truffles. It is a different expression of Syrah as this comes from the more iron-laden soils of the Cote Brune. Although never as aromatic, precocious or enjoyable as La Mouline is in its youth, La Turque is, nevertheless, a remarkably concentrated, profound wine that is built like a skyscraper. It possesses a level of intensity and richness that must be tasted to be believed. Despite the flamboyant personality of the vintage, the 2009 will require 4-5 years of cellaring and should age effortlessly for 25-30 years.Robert Parker | 100 RPPossibly my favorite vintage ever for the Northern Rhône (2010 and 2015 are both in the running), the 2009 Côte Rôtie La Turque is a mammoth of wine that offers everything you could want. Deep purple/plum-hued, this full-bodied, thick, opulent Côte Rôtie offers loads of sweet tannins, a deep, layered mid-palate, and straight-up heavenly notes of smoked meats, Asian spices, bacon fat, espresso roast, and loads of sweet, perfectly ripe black fruits. It’s much more opulent and sexy than the more classically built 2010 (and 2005 and 2015) and if this doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will. It’s going to shine for another 2-3 decades.Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDA pure, unadulterated raspberry confiture aroma and flavor is the dominant note today in this deep and expressive red, with extra singed anise, alder, juniper and black currant notes filling in the background, followed by a very dense yet supremely polished finish. Features the weight and density of this fleshy vintage, but the fruit is so inviting this is almost approachable now. Better to wait though. Best from 2015 through 2035. 400 cases made.Wine Spectator | 98 WSDark purple. Sexy, expansive aromas of boysenberry, violet and incense, with a bright mineral quality adding lift. Offers an array of ripe, luscious black and blue fruit and floral flavors that become spicier with air. Sappy, broad and sweet on the gently tannic finish, which shows superb clarity and persistence.Vinous Media | 95 VM

The 2010 Grange arrives with much expectation and does not disappoint. This is a powerhouse, structurally superior to both the 2009 and 2008 vintages and breathtakingly dense, long and precise. The nose has cola, blackberry, vanillin, hard brown spices of all kinds, coal smoke, meaty charcuterie elements and a strong tarry, savory note that speaks of the 85% Barossa Valley componentry. The palate has super deep tannins that fan out through flavorsome black fruits. These are purposeful tannins - they bristle on the palate, tantalizing and assertive yet playful; strong not aggressive. The power here is the thing: This has mouth-coating density and terrific drive, so tightly coiled, it gives enough away to suggest a very, very long cellaring wine is here. This is a classic Grange that will please the serious collectors. A wine of genuine pedigree. Drink in 2026.James Suckling | 100 JSWith its veritable vortex of rich but dynamic blackberry and blood-plum, exotic satsuma lift, creamy praline oak and supple tannins of deep-pile velvet, this is a sumptuous wine to sink into - a bottomless pit. Hints of sarsaparilla and tar lend savoury nuance. This oozes confidence and charm. Sourced from Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Magill Estate, it spent 17 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads. Drinking Window 2018 - 2045Decanter | 99 DECThe 2010 Grange is a 4% Cabernet Sauvignon and 96% Shiraz blend made from Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Magill Estate fruit that was aged 17 months in 100% new American oak hogsheads. Very deep purple-black in color, this is classic Grange - amongst the finest produced - replete with fresh, vibrant and youthful black fruit notes showing some blueberry aromas and accents of camphor, anise and the slightest floral hint plus a whiff of oak in the background to lend a cedar-laced lift to this textbook Shiraz nose. Medium to full-bodied in the mouth, it is very taut and finely constructed showing typically firm, grainy, uniform tannins, great concentration and wonderful persistence on the finish. If I have any very slight complaint of this near perfect wine it is that it seems a little too clinical and appears to speak less of the land and the heart of South Australia and more of the very skilled winemaking than did the Grange from the magical 2008 vintage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThis inky, embryonic wine deserves to be cellared until at least 2025 and should drink well for at least 25 years after that. It takes its time opening up in the glass to reveal notes of grilled meat, vanilla and plum. In the mouth, it's full bodied and firmly built, with a wall of chewy tannins surrounding a deep ripe core.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WEFocused, elegant, powerful and layered, exhibiting plum, currant, floral, spice and coffee flavors that come together seamlessly and persist on the long, complex finish. This has presence and deftness in equal measure, with well-integrated tannins. Best from 2018 through 2030. 371 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSPeter Gago is excited about the 2010 Grange, having followed it through a moderate, relatively dry growing season, then shepherding his best lots of shiraz through the end of their fermentation and extended aging in new American oak hogsheads. The fruit is a blend from Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and the Magill Estate, delivering powerful richness and deep intensity without any perception of alcohol. American oak provides an accent, dominated by the fruit concentration that brings its own herbal spice. The volatility that lifts that spice is a trademark of Max Schubert’s winemaking style, and adds to the detail that develops as this turns into a grand wine. More accessible than many Grange releases, this presents a sleek and sophisticated composure rather than the fireworks that often accompany a young Grange. It should age beautifully.Wine & Spirits | 94 W&S