I was hanging out with the Wu-ster at his house, sitting on the terrace… staring at the Hollywood sign… trying to swat away the tree branches that draped all the way to the sofas when we started talking about Rhone and how I was pretty “bleh” about Rhone in general. Don’t love it but don’t hate it… but never really wow’d by it. So he went into his house … came back with a bottle wrapped in aluminum foil. Which… was the 96 La Landonne. Next time I’m telling him I’m very “bleh” about Burgundy… but I don’t think he’ll fall for it =(
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1996 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (11/4/2009)
tasted blind. Pop and pour and drank over 40 minutes. Tons of bright red piercing, almost extracted, red fruit mixed with freshly grated black pepper and french oak. A bit of menthol green on the nose that goes away after about 20 minutes and yields a slight meaty component to match with the pepper and the oak disappears. The palate is ultra rich with baked cherries, lean meat but still had a pretty floral component to it that showed incredible complexity. A touch of oak on the finish that went away after about 30 minutes as well as grippy tannins. It really kicked into gear about 40 minutes into the wine and all the flavors melded together into one seamless drink. The finish went on forever, just coats your mouth with sweet red fruit and delightful acidity with lingering fine tannins in the background.
Still very young and could use some time. (94 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker