2005 Guigal 'La Turque', Ex Voto, & Rostaing 'La Landonne head to head.

WINE TALK
1

So obviously these are decades + from their peak, but a few of us have some and really want to try them now for some insight into the future.

Any recommendations on decanting time? 4+ hours in the decanter or maybe double decant the day before and leave with the cork out for 24 hours?

Has anyone tried these recently? Will we even get anything out of these now or is it totally not worthwhile giving them a try as they’ll be closed as a closed thing?

Thanks!

2

Quick run through a bar blender ala Chris Freemott.

3

Will that chop the wood in La Turque? [stirthepothal.gif]

4

Will that chop the wood in La Turque? > [stirthepothal.gif]

[rofl.gif]

Nice. So has no one tried these recently at all?

5

No. I have the 90 LaLa’s which I guess need to be drunk though?

6

I would think a good long decant should do the trick–about 4 years…

7

I’ve got a single bottle of the 2001 Ex Voto that I’m reluctant to open, at least not until I start reading notes that it’s ready.

8

Well it ended up pretty interesting…

We started with a Champagne Philipponat Clos de Goisses 1992 L.V (Long Vieillissement - Disgorged January 2010) which just got better and better in the glass over an hour (served in the Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir). Really I should have decanted this a half hour before hand. The best 1992 I’ve had along with the Dom Pérignon Rose with the Vilmart Couer de Cuvee en Magnum close behind. This is one of the great white wines of the world, not champagne as most know it, and should be treated as such.

Then into the 2005 Northern Rhones. I opened all of these 20 hours before lunch, but left the corks in the bottles until 4 hours prior where I then double decanted them back into their bottles and recorked.

2005 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie ‘La Landonne’ was easily the most open of the three and by far the most enjoyable for drinking now, both alone and with food. Lovely expressive nose, more obviously grained than the Guigal’s which were much tighter packed. Great balance and the nicest acid structure of all, finished long and fresh. You can approach this now and it’s definitely not a waste but I’d still wait another ten years + for maximum pleasure.

2005 Guigal Ermitage ‘Ex Voto’ . Such a seductive nose on this which came and went, one of our group found the oak overwhelming right now though. I felt there was enough fruit to balance it and it will be mind blowing somewhere about 15-25 yrs from now. Very dark and concentrated but it never feels like it’s too much, restrained power is the order of the day here. I preferred the ‘La Turque’ overall but there is something mysterious and fascinating about this wine that kept me coming back to it. Very intellectual.

2005 Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Turque’. This is quite the wine. Certainly a showstopper. Yes no doubt this is decades away from being ‘ready’ but I don’t regret opening it to have a look at the last flushes of youth here. More muscle than the 'Landonne or the ‘Ex Voto’, but no sense that it had spent too much time on bicep curls alone, this is a perfect specimen of a wine where every element is in harmony with everything else. There’s not much to say here except for you should get some. Damn you can get 3 bottles for the price of a 2010 1st Growth. That’s a bargain.

9

Regan, thank for the notes. BTW had the 98 Rostaing ‘La Landonne’ over the weekend, also a great wine. Cheers Mike