2016 Côte-Rôtie Château d'Ampuis Guigal

Not yet bottled, the 2016 Côte Rôtie Château D'Ampuis offers a more seamless, elegant style as well as powerful notes of cassis, licorice, smoked meats, and game. It's deep, rich, has fine yet building tannins, and a great finish.

Extremely dark ruby. Powerful, mineral- accented cherry and dark fruit preserve, exotic spice, licorice and incense aromas show sharp delineation and pick up hints of candied flowers and olive with aeration. Sweet, seamless and broad on the palate, offering intense boysenberry, cherry liqueur, fruitcake and floral pastille flavors that slowly tighten up on the back half. Repeats the blue fruit note on an impressively persistent, spice-tinged finish that features sneaky tannins and an appealingly sweet cola flourish. -- Josh Raynolds 95 Josh Raynolds 2025 - 2035.

Moving to the top Côte Rôties, the 2016 Côte Rôtie Chateau D'Ampuis comes from a blend of top sites (7 different lieux-dits) and sees the same care and élevage as the La Las. Revealing a ruby/purple hue as well as a stunning nose of black raspberry and cassis interwoven with notes of bacon fat, spring flowers, violets, and smoked game, this beauty hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a seamless texture, and gorgeous overall balance. The tannins are polished, and it has wonderful sweetness of fruit as well as considerable elegance. A classic 2016 that does everything right, it cedes very little, if anything, to the more expensive single vineyard releases. Readers that love classic Côte Rôtie should buy this by the case. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 15+.

The 2016 Cote Rotie Chateau d'Ampuis remains a wonderfully harmonious, medium to full-bodied effort, possessing tremendous energy and length. Cedary notes accent red raspberries on the nose, while the streamlined palate brings hints of cherries and blueberries, and the finish adds wiry, herb-and-spice intricacies. This has gained in stature since my last barrel tasting.