2016 Côte-Rôtie La Landonne Côte-Brune Guigal

Not destemmed. Always the deepest and most austere of the single vineyard 'La La' wines, the 2016 La Landonne exhibits some classic peppery spice and smoky bacon aromatics alongside dark plum and roast espresso - intense, vivid and expressive in aroma. It's full-bodied, concentrated and dense in style, and at this stage the oak is just about in balance. Lush, concentrated fruit is allied to a sinewy texture coming from the stems. It's quite grainy, in fact, but the tannins are sure to resolve during their extended oak ageing - the wine is only at the start of its long elevage, and will spend a total of 42 months in new oak barriques, reaching the market in early 2020. Drinking Window 2024 - 2040.

The 2016 Côte Rôtie La Landonne shows the more elegant and classical style of the vintage. As always, it's 100% Syrah, from a great terroir in the Côte Brune side of the appellation, that will spend 48 months in new French oak barrels. It has textbook La Landonne notes of smoked meats, black fruits, and crushed rocks as well as full-bodied richness, surprising elegance and finesse for this cuvée (but that's the vintage), flawless balance, and a great finish. I suspect it will have some early charm, but I'd still recommend 7-8 years of bottle age.

Bright purple. A deeply perfumed bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, cherry liqueur, incense and potpourri, while olive and exotic spice nuances build in the glass. Intense, alluringly sweet black/blue fruit, spicecake and violet pastille flavors show sharp delineation and a spine of juicy acidity. Closes extremely long and precise, displaying a smoky, intensifying mineral quality and youthfully gripping tannins that build steadily. -- Josh Raynolds 98 Josh Raynolds 2027 - 2040.

The darkest, most concentrated and tannic of the 2016 La Las, the 2016 Cote Rotie La Landonne boasts hints of smoked meat and scorched coffee on the nose, waves of cassis fruit and hints of olives and herbs. Medium to full-bodied, this is packed with tannin, ripe fruit and intricate nuances of savory complexity. Rich and velvety, with terrific texture and impressive length, it's a sure bet to evolve gracefully for the next 20-25 years.