August 17, 2023 - WSET II tasting evening: Intensity medium(+). Black cherry, blue plum, ashes/cigar smoke, pipe tobacco, maggi. Acidity medium. Tannins medium. Finish medium(+).
August 17, 2023 - WSET 2 group tasting (My place, Utrecht, NL): As this is the only “appalling” vintage in recent history, I’m really looking forward to my other LaLaLa’s. Despite the vintage, this was lovely. Bacon, black berry, meaty, cigar ash, a green note, fire stone. Medium+ acidity, medium+ tannins, medium finish
March 25, 2023 - Opened this after I found some wines were too “ok lah” for my guests. Glad to see this delivered as old Guigal usually do. Deep, complex nose with farmyard, beef blood, cranberries. Alrresting Syrah acidity keeping everything in place, melted tannins, long, deeply aromatic finish. That is why we drink old, high end French wine.
August 23, 2019 - Very nice bottle, olives, dark roses, lightly roasted meat, herbs and truffles, there was nice acidity and still vibrant fruits on the palate, texture was firm yet smooth. it performed very well from an off/weak vintage. Really enjoyed it
December 8, 2018 - tasted alongside 99 Gaja Sperss. This crushed it. Much more earthy and old world style
November 18, 2017 - Not a powerhouse LaLa. The nose took a little while to open up, but when it did it was all blood and iron. The palate followed suit: sublime and ethereal. I'd say this was at peak. Hard to beat LaLas, even in a middling vintage.
January 20, 2017 - My understanding is that this a tweener vintage. Not the best, but not near the bottom either. My first taste of a La Turque. Really interested to see top vintage of this wine. It is fully developed. Touch of saline, blood and meat on the nose with loads of black olive. More on the savory side of the wine ledger, this is not exactly fruity but it has wonderful balance and is mouth coating with a nice finish. Showing no sign of hitting any kind of downward trajectory. This will probably hold where it is for many more years, but there is no reason to hold on to these any longer.
January 20, 2017 - Tasting at Le Cheri (Le Cheri, Philadelphia): drank with cheese plate. in a nice place right now. fully developed, with flavors of black olive tapenade, herbs de provence, and a meaty undercurrent. beautiful acid profile keeps this from being at all heavy. medium+ finish.
January 16, 2017 - This wine is a lot more about elegance and balance than sheer power. I found the nose absolutely seductive. Probably close to its peak, but will last at least another decade. Yes - you will find even greater La Turque's in other vintages, but so what. This wine deserves to be judged on it's own merits.
April 6, 2016 - Opened for about an hour and then decanted about half an hour before drinking. Started strong and faded a bit as the night went on. Beautiful, but not great as in other vintages.