Côte Rôtie, La Landonne 2014

Jeb Dunnuck 97/100

Last of the single vineyard Côte Rôties, the La Landonne comes from a lieu-dit on the Côte Brune side of the appellation (as does the La Turque) and is 100% Syrah. It too spends four years in new French oak. The 2014 Côte Rôtie La Landonne gets my nod for the wine of the vintage and has rock star notes of black fruits, smoked meat, underbrush, and black olives. It’s medium to full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, rich, and layered, and has more depth and length than just about every wine in the vintage. Hats off to the Guigal family for making such a stunning wine in a difficult vintage.

J. Czerwinski, Wine Advocate 95+/100

While the 2014 Cote Rotie La Landonne looked like the pick of the litter from barrel, now that it's in bottle, it's closed down a bit and is showing more of its stemmy, whole-bunch character. Medium to full-bodied, it's the most potent and concentrated of the La Las but considerably less charming at this point in time, with brooding, dark fruit, hints of espresso and black olive on the palate and a chewy, tannic finish. Give it at least 5 years in the cellar before checking in on it.

J. Raynolds, Vinous 95/100

Dark purple. Expansive cassis, blueberry liqueur, olive paste, vanilla and candied licorice aromas are lifted by a sexy floral note and a spicy suggestion of cracked pepper. Rich and broad but surprisingly energetic as well, showing powerful thrust to the concentrated black and blue fruit, spicecake, olive and cola flavors. Very smooth and round, revealing no rough edges that I can detect. Finishes very long and sweet, with a whiplash of blue fruit and slow-building, well-knit tannins that add framework.