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1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (12/18/2011)
Dinner at Charleston, Baltimore.
Decanted for an hour and drunk over the next three hours, and then rebottled 1/3 of the bottle overnight for breakfast. While a little tight at first, it quickly developed a soaring nose of black olives, black cherry and blackberry fruit, with plenty of savory roasted rare meat, bacon fat, a cool herbal streak my better half called juniper (and I can’t disagree, and suspect is the wood) and violets. A heavenly nose. Very perfumed and incredibly dense but with no sense of heaviness. At first the palate was a bit ungiving, but over a couple of hours, and most certainly overnight, this has fleshed out into a powerful yet supple wine with beautiful palate presence. This is a seamless, rich, powerful and elegant wine that is nearly perfectly balanced. Gorgeous texture. To pick nits, there is a touch of wood that still needs to integrate for my palate at least, but his is a flat out beautiful complicated wine. Very long and very pure on the back end. Brilliant stuff better on day two, and I will hold mine for at least 5 more years. 97+ pts (97 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
As an aside, the meal was fantastic. Probably the most enjoyable meal I have had all year. The food was technically perfectly executed, with thoughtful, very flavorful dishes. Service was attentive and unobtrusive, and the staff professional yet approachable and easy. A relaxing, wonderful meal to end a great trip back to B-more. Bravo!