High-end Rhone Dinner at a friend's house. (Hollywood): This was quite interesting to have it side by side with the 91 La Turque. Great ruby-garnet color. The nose is much more forward than the La Turque, with red and black fruit, pepper, mint, anise and rosemary. The palate is hedonistic, with fantastic balance and power. Finish goes on forever. This will age gracefully. Excellent.
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Even better than last time. The immense black and cherry fruit is fully displayed to the fore with the tannins and structure right behind. Very stylish, not too oaky, very impressive indeed. Bold early maturity.
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Seriously impressive. Majorly concentrated yet not inky. The blackest of black fruit, integrated tannin and acidity, great length. There is a nice touch of earthy complexity although the monolithic blackness dominates. Surely at peak. Such a big step up from California or Oregon imitators such as Sine Qua Non if you crave more than fruit and oak.
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Started off somewhat light and pretty, gained weight over time and became more meaty. Drank side by side with a few other amazing wines, for me this fell a bit short. Perhaps would have enjoyed it more on its own.
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What a shame:the cork was dry …and the wine was off …vinuous. Even after decanting, it could be not be salvaged. Let’s hope the La Mouline from the same vintage will fix my broken hart. I won’t wait. Non rated.
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During a lovely Cote Rotie dinner - served blind side by side Turque 91, what a pair! The Landonne seemed a bit more advanced than the Turque, both though cut from a similar cloth, to me the Turque just pipping the Landonne in this flight and for WOTN. Both wonderful though and full of fruit still and should develop further and then hold for decades.
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1 hour decant and filtered. Drank against '90 La Turque & the La Turque was clearly the better wine, much more expressive. Maybe the viognier, maybe the different vineyard, maybe the vintage, maybe bottle variation, maybe the Landonne needs more time.
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I tasted the 1991 La Turque and this wine within a few days. The lingering tannins give this wine a masculine, leathery personality. There is abundant fruit here, but the fine soft tannins grasp the spotlight, mute the fruit, and pull the wine towards earth, minerals, and coffee grind. I will try again in a few years. The fruit-to-tannin balance will still take a long time to shift in favor of the fruit. What will the fruit look like when it does?
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Genuinely one of our favorite wines. Grilled meat, Asian spice, sweet saddle leather - lovely elegance. Some tart raspberry and currant creating a sweet tart balance. Beautiful orange nuance. Perfectly complex on the back end. All the beauty with an incredible silkiness. This wine is opening its kimono. Amazing! One of the iconic wines that truly deserves the title. Having with ribeyes, homemade pierogis and grilled asparagus.
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This is drinking well now, but still appears young. Great acidity, despite the age, to balance the abundant fruit. The tannins suppress the fruit just a little and this falls short of achieving a higher score. Still very enjoyable and a treat.
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Annual Chicago winos visit - Champagne, White Burg, DRC, La La and SQN (Officina - Washington D.C.): The most youthful appearance, and the nose and palate to match. Youthful expressive nose displaying intense perfectly ripe black fruit, blackberry, blackberry liqueur, cherry, licorice, spearmint, tapenade, caramel and mineral. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of concentrated black fruit, unctuous yet silky and nicely detailed, bright acidity and strong limestone mineral and a long intense black fruit driven finish with licorice at the end. Clearly the most youthful and concentrated of the flight. Easy to pick at La Landonne, no viognier here! Drinking beautifully but this can easily improve for another decade or two.
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DC/Chicago Wine Dinner Extravaganza (Officina - Wasington, DC): In 1991 single blind La La horizontal...which I got 100% correct! The easiest of three to identify since this seemed clearly 100% Syrah. Massive, all black fruit,this is so muscular and even still backward. Great concentration, just less finesse or nuance vs the other two in the flight.
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La Tablee: Legends Dinner w E. Guigal & after party (Daniel & SommTime): In a flight of 91's this was less expressive than the other two (I think fits with Landonne in general which seems to need quite a bit of time). There's some promise here. Touch of dark fruits. Touch of animal. Get the feeling this is going to be good.
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From Paris with Love, 2018 Edition; 11/16/2018-11/18/2018 (Paris (Girafe, La Tour D'Argent & Epicure)): Still a baby and albeit that we chose not to decant just let it develop in the glass. Post 30 mins this got into its stride but it's a good 5 years from getting into its full stride. We remember trying the 1991 La Mouline a few years ago and that was a lot more intense on fruit and oak while this Landonne was a lot more restrained which shows the wine is evolving well ( we would have expected similar level of oak on this too) Dark fruited nose, light spice, light smoky edge as it developed , licorice, light oaky dynamics of cocoa. On the palate is a tour de force for a cote rotie but with pin restriant, balance and harmony. Young still and needs a good 5 yrs or so to develop into full potential. Superb wine and hopefully we will get to cross paths in the future with it again. 96
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Marc's 70th Birthday Dinner in DC (Oval Room in DC): Nose was all red/black fruit with a light hint of blood. Very primary with red and black fruits a some light minty goodness. Medium body, moderate drying tannins. Nice wine, but just needed either 5 hrs in a decanter, another 10 years or both. Great potential.
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Rhone Admissions (Vaucluse): Corked and this time the whole table agreed. Unfortunate. We even tried going back at the end in case it had blown off, but alas twas not to be. Too bad. It's a great wine.
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Guigal LaLa Dinner II (Chef's Club NYC): This nose is terrific with impressively youthful black currant and blackberry, but with an elegant floral perfume. Immensely powerful but very fine and pure. Fresh flowers and damp gravelly minerals. Hugely expressive and profoundly beautiful.
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Acker Guigal La La dinner (Chef's Club - 275 Mulberry Street): Had this a few years ago, but in a situation where I don't think it was set up to show it's best (opened too late, short decant, etc.). This was just wonderful though. I have 'yum' in my notes with several exclamation marks. It's more in the pretty style. Lots of violets and fruit and balance and just a wine that is awesome. A great start to the 'super flight'.
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Cherry, olive, and a hint of wood spice. Feminine, softly textured, mostly resolved but buoyed by ripe acidity. Lacking freshness. Blind I would have called this as a Guigal La la but '88 not '91. This will drink well for awhile but it won't improve from here.
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We were very excited to open this on Christmas Eve. On opening it had an enticing rich savoury smoky dark fruited bouquet. We stood it up for a couple of hours but didn’t decant it. We kept the temperature carefully regulated to 17-18C by standing it next to an open window. We served it out of large glasses and it came across as thick textured, gloopy and inexpressive. It was dark and dense, not obviously flawed but never expressed itself. It had some savoury notes but was monolithic and not particularly complex. It was not a case of this being too young. It was fully evolved as the savoury secondary notes attested. It was plodding and not at all elegant. This is not a bad wine, but relative to our expectations it was a huge disappointment.
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Acker BYO Holiday Dinner (Tribeca Grille): Opened this prob an hour into the night and decanted and at first it was all tight and tasted like a 2 year old wine. It opened up really well though over time and suspect it's a wine that would be even better the next day. A bit of meat and salinity and dark fruits. Very very good.
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Holiday Dinner - Champ, Burg, Bordeaux, Rhone and etc. (The Grill Room at Rosewood DC): Precise nose displaying sweet black fruit, a hint of dry cherry, tapenade, tar and earl grey. Nicely integrated concentrated palate, nicely layered, cherry and tapenade driven palate impression, good acidity, nicely integrated tannins and a long tapenade and tar driven finish. The fruit is no longer opulent and nicely integrated the overall expression. It is at the youthful peak.
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A very soft and supremely elegant showing tonight. Perfumed Burgundian nose. Sweet and ripe maraschino cherry fruit with some chai. Texturally silky. Not a lot of structure remaining although the finish is nuanced and very beautiful. The time to enjoy this is probably right now. Was obviously completely different, but ultimately blown away by another '91 La Turque enjoyed next.
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Stunning in every sense of the meaning, in the nose, with its its cornucopia of fragrances, on the palate, with its layers of dense, fresh, sweet, earthy, perfectly ripe berries and the finish that stuck with you for close to 60 seconds. WOW... While this is drinking great today, it's going to get even better with another 5 years in the bottle.
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Rare Northern Rhone Birthday - 1991: Dry relative to the ’91 La Turque served alongside. Woody, acrylics, and a touch of hay. Came back to this glass an hour or so later and it was totally different, very elegant and pretty, albeit with some wood remaining. Dry tannins on the palate.
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took some time to open up - nose elegant and with time bit of wild herbs. Tannins very smooth - quite amazing mid palette. And great length. Showing well.
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Several layers of complexity on the nose, which continues to outperform the palate in my opinion. This bottle required drinking within a couple hours of opening as the backpalate dried out and become somewhat astringent at that point.
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Surprisingly unexpressive bottle. Dark cherry and plum with some old leather thrown in, but notably lacking in other expected elements on the nose. Lacked forceful substance on the palate. Not the equal of other bottles
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Mind blowing wine that is really coming into its own. The nose, with its spicy, peppery, earthy, black cherry liqueur fragrance really moved you. But that's topped with on the palate with a massive wall of powerful, sweet, ripe fruits that is intense, balanced, mouthfilling and long.
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A part of what I think has been the second greatest trio of related wines I ever tasted together; the 1991 La Landonne, La Mouline and the La Turque. Part of our dinner series with Heinz. Decanted for about 3 hours. Dark red and black fruit with pepper and meat notes, so classic. Mouth coating extract and long. Ready now.
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Tremendous nose of smoking meats, cote de boeuf, and bacon overpowering red and black cherry. Still pretty big on the palate but well integrated with black currant and more ripe red and black cherry fruit. Tannins have settled down into an ideal place for drinking right now, but there is definitely a lot of life remaining here. An awesome showing, typical of what everyone always says of LaLas.
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Close to perfection, but this bottle was not quite there. This is not to take anything away from the sublime, smoky, tobacco, thyme, pepper and fresh, sweet cherry nose. Or the intense levels of concentration, power or richness that is clearly evident. Still young, this will only get better, gain in complexity and continue softening for decades to come.
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The 1991 La Landonne is one of the best Guigal wines I've encountered, with a lovely bouquet (that takes a bit of coaxing) of black fruit, plum, graphite, coco, roasted venison, woodsmoke and oak spice. On the palate the wine is still very youthful, with great intensity and a good deal of fine tannin. The impression is firm and masculine, and it really seems to need another decade.
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At CVA's 50th birthday gala in NYC - Bouley Botanical - great setting and amazing evening. Drank next to the 91 La Turque. Great comparison of two extraordinary "La Las"
Dark brick/garnet color. Very dark nose of black fruits, pepper, roasted meats/savory, mild barnyard. Palate was dark fruits, quite elegant. Notes of smoke, leather, herbs and garrigue. More tannic than the La Turque.
I think this is in its zone, should hold here for a while La/Las are as good as it gets for aged Rhone. Great opportunity to drink these two side/side
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My first off bottle. It's hard to say what went wrong, but this bottle was good, but lacked the greatness one deserves in this special wine. I'm sure storage at some point was the issue. Provenance is worth paying for, especially on the best wines.
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Had some VA that punched warm berry fruit and chocolate smells up into the nostrils. It was sweet and rich in the mouth with some tar and earth development
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Extraordinary. The nose somewhat Burgundian, but the body great quality Syrah. Rich, complex, interesting - long finish. Double decanted 5 hours ahead, quite a lot of sediment and tannins, so worthwhile on two accounts.
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very dark nose with black fruits, minerals, graphite, pepper, roasted meats; on the palate it is sweet, complex, but painfully young (after 3-4h in the decanter); hold for at least another 5 years before drinking this
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This will be one tasting note for La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque 1991. The Mouline is the most brick colored. The Turque the darkest. All three wines have a beautiful, complex and expressive bouquet with rustic smells, beautiful herbs and spices, smoke, bacon etc. The Turque has the most powerful bouquet. The Mouline the most ready and complex and the Landonne the most barnyard and also something not really fresh. On the palate the Mouline is beautifully mature with a great complexity; herbs and spices e.g. clove completely melted tannin and a great length. The Turque is also mature, but is the most powerful. Beautiful garrigue as well and also ripe red and black berry fruits and tannin with still a firm bite. Good bitterness in the finish and still a future of several years. Th Landonne is a sad story; just after opening it showed good acidity and tannin with a firm bite which was a bit drying in the finish, but after a few minutes, with just a little more airtime it became clear the wine really was corked. Overall the Mouline was the most elegant wine and the Turque the most powerful and both great, complex wines with great finesse! No score for La Landonne. I scored the Mouline 97 and the Turque 98.
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Kleur: Robijnrood Aroma / bouquet: In vergelijking met de Mouline en Turque: minder expressie. Kruidig. Beetje 'stoffig'. Smaak / Afdronk: Vol en krachtig, veel concentratie. Uitgesproken tannines, beetje hard / drogend. Wat 'korrelig'. Algemeen / potentieel: Stoere krachtwijn. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 11 + Smaak / Afdronk: 16 + Algemeen / potentieel: 7 = 89/100
Color: Ruby Aroma / Bouquet: Compared with Mouline and Turque: less expression. Spicy. Bit 'dusty'. Taste / Finish: Full and powerful, a lot of concentration. Pronounced tannins, little hard / drying. A bit 'grainy'. General / potential: Robust power wine. 50 + Colour: 5 + Aroma / Bouquet: 11 + Taste / Finish: 16 + General / potential: 7 = 89/100
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Dark, but light on its feet. Great wine to kick of a great dinner. Burgundian style with some nice acid to keep it fresh. Dark fruits, tar and stones mixed with cherry blossom on the nose. A real treat, not to be missed.
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Drank a trio of 91 La La for Christmas dinner. Started with the La Landonne, which had a touch of sour on the finish. A great wine, that on its own would have been a treat. It really responded to air, and developed well over a couple of hours. The La Turque took things to a new level, simply an awesome wine. Total bacon fat, smoke, and very full throttled. The La Mouline presented very similar to the La Turque, very bacon and smoke, with a touch less opulence. All were great, but the La Turque and La Mouline were stunningly good.
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This was extraordinary! Perfectly mature with soft animalistic notes, leather and fur, smoke, hint of bacon, but also still some dark berries in spite of its age. Very good balance, still fresh and extremely easy to drink.
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Smoke, boysenberry, flowers, black cherry liqueur, earth, charcoal, and creamy cherry scents created a complex perfume. Big, rich, mouth-filling, long and lush, this still tannic wine is powerful and intense. At 21 years of age, it’s slowly starting to flesh out. Give it another 5- 8 years and this will be off the charts!
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Dark colour and a wine clearly in the young, darker end of the fruit spectrum. Full bodied, rich but still with an astringent finish. Needs time, certainly compared with the la turque served alongside it.
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Really lovely and regal wine with wonderful black fruit flavors that power through to a laser-like finish with wonderful notes of graphite, bitter chocolate and minerals. This wine is just at maturity and tastes like it's been chiseled from granite. Full-bodied but perfectly balanced with great cut and breed and a long, concentrated, complex finish. Hard to explain but I think this wine creates the impression of drinking melted metal. The best La Landonne I've ever had and it was neck and neck with the '90 Haut Brion....high praise indeed. LET THIS BREATH FOR HOURS IN A DECANTER BEFORE CONSUMING.
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An evening of Guigal La La's, Champagne and a few treats! (Scott & Jo's): I believe this was added late and did not get the decanting that the others got. Not too dissimilar from the 01 version despite ten years difference. However, after about an hour, this opened up much more. The nose is great with truffles, black and red raspberries, leather and charcoal. On the palate, the texture is soft and huge at the same time. Lots going on here as it unwinds. It is a moving target going from open to closed and back again with every visit. Fascinating wine.
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Decanted one hour before serving, and that seemed about right. I continued to drink it over the next four hours, and it never got any better.
Appealing but one-dimensional nose of Hermitage funk. After the one hour of decanting, the tannins were just right, achieving a velvety grip without feeling astringent. Pleasant funk on the palate as well, along with a sappy, piney note that was lovely at first, but ultimately became a little excessively biting after three or four more hours had elapsed, and the wine had lost its balance. The wine lacked complexity, and never yielded much fruit. Very pleasant to drink, but not what a '91 La-La should be.
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not as exhuberant as the 91 La Mouline, but cut from the same cloth. The density and gamy richness provides a great contrast to the more floral and high toned Mouline. Fantastic.
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Wine dinner at Zucca Trattoria - all wines supplied by me.
My ratings:
WHITE 2005 Henri Boillot Meursault Les Charmes -- 95 -- Delicious, drinking now, with good fruit, balanced acidity and nice minerality
REDS 1997 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares -- 93 -- Needs time - will be sublime in another 5 years 1995 Ornellaia (from Magnum) -- 95 -- Brilliant! Drinking now. Beautifully balanced; a rich mouthful 1996 Henri Perrot-Minot Charmes-Chambertin -- 95 -- Beautifully generous, although could do with more time in the bottle 1997 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild -- 96 -- Drinking beautifully. No one guessed this might be a 1997. 1989 Chateau Haut-Brion -- 99 -- First equal for WOTN. Unbelievable. 1997 Guigal Cote-Rotie “La Mouline” -- 96 -- Mature nose, lots of smoke, bacon and black fruits. 1991 Guigal Cote-Rotie “La Landonne” -- 99 -- First equal for WOTN. Unbelievable.
DESSERT 1937 Maury Domaines et Terroirs du Sud -- 94 -- Caramel, apricots; a delicious mouthful of dessert wine!
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Spice, black fruit and minerality in the nose. Very concentrated and still seemingly youthful on the palate. This big wine is loaded with black fruit and an iron component. Long and mouth filling
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Decanted for three hours before consuming. An unbelievably sexy wine. The fruit is sweet, the tannins soft and melted, the acids in perfect balance. The nose of black fruits, smoke and bacon jumps out of the glass. The colour is very youthful, and the finish long and lingering. An incredible effort. Bravo.
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Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Thick, rich, black, with great fruit but beautiful balancing acidity and tannins. Decanted for three hours. Completely hedonistic, but will get more complex with time. The bacon fat and smokiness were just starting to show. Bravo!
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Wino Guys Weekend (WGW) #1; 1/4/2008-1/5/2008: Dark ruby colour. Aromas of spice, plums, minerals, talcum powder, mulled fruit/spice, vanilla, rosewater. Very clean on the nose. Medium-full bodied, with plums, currant, spice, smoke. Layered and ridiculously complex. Long, lingering finish, ~60+s, with spice, Christmas cake, and rum-soaked plums. With time, just a few hints of bacon start to develop on the nose.
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Lunch at Chez Bruce (Chez Bruce, London): Lunch @ Chez Bruce with david wainwright dark garnet color, nose of smokey meats and black fruits. decanted for like 45 min. this wine remains one of myfavorites to drink. this bottle had all the dark fruits and rhoney leather, smokey flavors i remember, it is mouth coating, heavyweight wine with a long finish, this bottle was a bit more closed than i remembered but still a big brooding wine that i wish i had more of
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40th Birthday Dinner (Charlie Trotters): Full deep purple/red color. Rowering aroma of blackberry cassis with spice, pepper, and leather notes. Incredibly layered rich blackberry cassis on the palate with round ripe sweet tannin. Finishes forever. A really profound wine...
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Tasted at the Three Amigos Dinner. Peter brought this. What a fantastic wine!! Unbelievable depth and richness, beautiful integrated sweetness, acidity and tannin. A gorgeous wine. Truly outstanding! Still needs a couple of years.
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Black fruit, smoke, cassis and spicey wood notes were in full force. Very dense, thick wine with superb concentration. The palate gets the best part of this wine with endless waves of flavor. Very young, will improve for 2-3 decades
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Intoxicating mineral, black fruit, spice, forest perfume. The fpalate is washed with waves of round, dense, dark fruit. Still young. Tannic and structured. Elegant and balanced with ample complexity keeps you interested in this wine.
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Opaque garnet. The nose is incredible - fresh strawberries, eucalyptus, bacon fat. Immense concentration and depth, completely fills the mouth, chewy and fat. Jammy fruit (though not sweet), a hint of licorice and smokey bacon. Long finish. Great wine and will probably improve over the next decade.
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This wine was served blind as an option alongside the La Mouline. It looked a lot less devoloped than the Mouline in colour and showed more primary fruit.The nose was super ripe raisin and prune fruits.There was some marzipan like devolopment and the chestnut oak seemed to be a little disjointed. No where near the elegance or balance that the Mouline had and perhaps needs a bit more time in the cellar to integrate.
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Red with thick core and only a faint browning at the rim. Scents of flower petals, tree bark and prunes. There's a raisiny quality to the taste, almost Pomerol-like. Medium concentration and slightly lacking in width, complexity and dimension. Medium body and slightly diffuse aftertaste. The great bouquet adds tremendously to the score here.
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As in the previous flight, this wine was by far the darkest and densest in colour, of the three wines. Indian spices on the nose. Like smelling a freshly cooked Chicken Tikka Masala dish. I have often wondered what Parker meant by Indian spices, but this must be it. Much more accesible that the first two wines in this flight. A hair lighter, but it's got all the flavour-dimensions. Nicely concentrated and complex in taste. Yet very tantalizing. I get the feeling that more is in store, though.
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3/26/2024 - jfpwine Likes this wine: 95 Points
High-end Rhone Dinner at a friend's house. (Hollywood): This was quite interesting to have it side by side with the 91 La Turque. Great ruby-garnet color. The nose is much more forward than the La Turque, with red and black fruit, pepper, mint, anise and rosemary. The palate is hedonistic, with fantastic balance and power. Finish goes on forever. This will age gracefully. Excellent.
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12/15/2023 - sdr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Even better than last time. The immense black and cherry fruit is fully displayed to the fore with the tannins and structure right behind. Very stylish, not too oaky, very impressive indeed. Bold early maturity.
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3/12/2023 - sdr Likes this wine: 94 Points
Seriously impressive. Majorly concentrated yet not inky. The blackest of black fruit, integrated tannin and acidity, great length. There is a nice touch of earthy complexity although the monolithic blackness dominates. Surely at peak. Such a big step up from California or Oregon imitators such as Sine Qua Non if you crave more than fruit and oak.
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1/18/2023 - joshabramson Likes this wine:
Started off somewhat light and pretty, gained weight over time and became more meaty. Drank side by side with a few other amazing wines, for me this fell a bit short. Perhaps would have enjoyed it more on its own.
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11/24/2021 - AB16 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Beautiful wine, drinking perfectly right now
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10/3/2021 - Jaber wrote:
What a shame:the cork was dry …and the wine was off …vinuous. Even after decanting, it could be not be salvaged. Let’s hope the La Mouline from the same vintage will fix my broken hart. I won’t wait. Non rated.
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9/28/2021 - BenBlu Likes this wine: 96 Points
During a lovely Cote Rotie dinner - served blind side by side Turque 91, what a pair! The Landonne seemed a bit more advanced than the Turque, both though cut from a similar cloth, to me the Turque just pipping the Landonne in this flight and for WOTN. Both wonderful though and full of fruit still and should develop further and then hold for decades.
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9/5/2021 - MJReb wrote: 96 Points
Chez Zim: Dark fruit, spices, with a very nice balance, nice density and length, as good as Côte Rôtie can get, perfect!
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6/25/2021 - BradE wrote:
A good bottle, but it didn't have its usual verve.
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5/12/2021 - wineguy75 Likes this wine: 93 Points
1 hour decant and filtered. Drank against '90 La Turque & the La Turque was clearly the better wine, much more expressive. Maybe the viognier, maybe the different vineyard, maybe the vintage, maybe bottle variation, maybe the Landonne needs more time.
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11/21/2020 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dense and dark. Good potential here. Wood beginning to be absorbed. 94-95
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6/30/2020 - blacktruffle Likes this wine: 95 Points
I tasted the 1991 La Turque and this wine within a few days. The lingering tannins give this wine a masculine, leathery personality. There is abundant fruit here, but the fine soft tannins grasp the spotlight, mute the fruit, and pull the wine towards earth, minerals, and coffee grind. I will try again in a few years. The fruit-to-tannin balance will still take a long time to shift in favor of the fruit. What will the fruit look like when it does?
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4/5/2020 - dkentaustin Likes this wine: 98 Points
Genuinely one of our favorite wines. Grilled meat, Asian spice, sweet saddle leather - lovely elegance. Some tart raspberry and currant creating a sweet tart balance. Beautiful orange nuance. Perfectly complex on the back end. All the beauty with an incredible silkiness. This wine is opening its kimono. Amazing! One of the iconic wines that truly deserves the title. Having with ribeyes, homemade pierogis and grilled asparagus.
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12/7/2019 - Zweder wrote: 99 Points
Occasional dinner group. Keller, Coche Dury, Guigal La Landonne plus some ringers. (By PVa @ Monarh in Tilburg, The Netherlands): In the bouquet a beautiful, complex and mature wine with good garrigue and rustic impressions. On the palate garrigue, leather, iron and blood. Chocolate as well. Great balance between acidity and sweetness. Very close to perfection now.
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10/20/2019 - blacktruffle Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is drinking well now, but still appears young. Great acidity, despite the age, to balance the abundant fruit. The tannins suppress the fruit just a little and this falls short of achieving a higher score. Still very enjoyable and a treat.
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10/18/2019 - dcwino wrote: 97 Points
Annual Chicago winos visit - Champagne, White Burg, DRC, La La and SQN (Officina - Washington D.C.): The most youthful appearance, and the nose and palate to match. Youthful expressive nose displaying intense perfectly ripe black fruit, blackberry, blackberry liqueur, cherry, licorice, spearmint, tapenade, caramel and mineral. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of concentrated black fruit, unctuous yet silky and nicely detailed, bright acidity and strong limestone mineral and a long intense black fruit driven finish with licorice at the end. Clearly the most youthful and concentrated of the flight. Easy to pick at La Landonne, no viognier here! Drinking beautifully but this can easily improve for another decade or two.
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10/18/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 95 Points
DC/Chicago Wine Dinner Extravaganza (Officina - Wasington, DC): In 1991 single blind La La horizontal...which I got 100% correct! The easiest of three to identify since this seemed clearly 100% Syrah. Massive, all black fruit,this is so muscular and even still backward. Great concentration, just less finesse or nuance vs the other two in the flight.
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2/1/2019 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
La Tablee: Legends Dinner w E. Guigal & after party (Daniel & SommTime): In a flight of 91's this was less expressive than the other two (I think fits with Landonne in general which seems to need quite a bit of time). There's some promise here. Touch of dark fruits. Touch of animal. Get the feeling this is going to be good.
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11/17/2018 - Papies wrote: 96 Points
From Paris with Love, 2018 Edition; 11/16/2018-11/18/2018 (Paris (Girafe, La Tour D'Argent & Epicure)): Still a baby and albeit that we chose not to decant just let it develop in the glass. Post 30 mins this got into its stride but it's a good 5 years from getting into its full stride. We remember trying the 1991 La Mouline a few years ago and that was a lot more intense on fruit and oak while this Landonne was a lot more restrained which shows the wine is evolving well ( we would have expected similar level of oak on this too)
Dark fruited nose, light spice, light smoky edge as it developed , licorice, light oaky dynamics of cocoa. On the palate is a tour de force for a cote rotie but with pin restriant, balance and harmony. Young still and needs a good 5 yrs or so to develop into full potential. Superb wine and hopefully we will get to cross paths in the future with it again. 96
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9/22/2018 - ericindc Likes this wine: 93 Points
Marc's 70th Birthday Dinner in DC (Oval Room in DC): Nose was all red/black fruit with a light hint of blood. Very primary with red and black fruits a some light minty goodness. Medium body, moderate drying tannins. Nice wine, but just needed either 5 hrs in a decanter, another 10 years or both. Great potential.
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9/5/2018 - MC2 Wines wrote: flawed
Rhone Admissions (Vaucluse): Corked and this time the whole table agreed. Unfortunate. We even tried going back at the end in case it had blown off, but alas twas not to be. Too bad. It's a great wine.
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9/1/2018 - Vmaster007 wrote: 91 Points
Not as expressive as the bottle I had a year and half ago, but it was a good wine. Black cherries and good balance with a smooth finish.
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9/1/2018 - steinersing wrote: 96 Points
deep and timeless - the would seem to still have a long life ahead. Over time some herbes de Provence aromas, round and elegant, not overpowering.
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6/22/2018 - steinersing wrote: 96 Points
Intense and open - great intensity in aromas, herbs, very Long.
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3/20/2018 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 95 Points
Guigal LaLa Dinner II (Chef's Club NYC): This nose is terrific with impressively youthful black currant and blackberry, but with an elegant floral perfume. Immensely powerful but very fine and pure. Fresh flowers and damp gravelly minerals. Hugely expressive and profoundly beautiful.
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3/20/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker Guigal La La dinner (Chef's Club - 275 Mulberry Street): Had this a few years ago, but in a situation where I don't think it was set up to show it's best (opened too late, short decant, etc.). This was just wonderful though. I have 'yum' in my notes with several exclamation marks. It's more in the pretty style. Lots of violets and fruit and balance and just a wine that is awesome. A great start to the 'super flight'.
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3/2/2018 - rlove wrote: 91 Points
Cherry, olive, and a hint of wood spice. Feminine, softly textured, mostly resolved but buoyed by ripe acidity. Lacking freshness. Blind I would have called this as a Guigal La la but '88 not '91. This will drink well for awhile but it won't improve from here.
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2/3/2018 - BradE wrote:
A great vintage, this bottle was very good. Took a couple votes as red WOTN.
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2/1/2018 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 93 Points
Solid, but unimpressive. Clearly can benefit from more time in the cellar as it still has some wood to work through.
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12/26/2017 - Comte Flaneur wrote: 90 Points
We were very excited to open this on Christmas Eve. On opening it had an enticing rich savoury smoky dark fruited bouquet. We stood it up for a couple of hours but didn’t decant it. We kept the temperature carefully regulated to 17-18C by standing it next to an open window. We served it out of large glasses and it came across as thick textured, gloopy and inexpressive. It was dark and dense, not obviously flawed but never expressed itself. It had some savoury notes but was monolithic and not particularly complex. It was not a case of this being too young. It was fully evolved as the savoury secondary notes attested. It was plodding and not at all elegant. This is not a bad wine, but relative to our expectations it was a huge disappointment.
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9/4/2017 - Lord Rayas wrote: 96 Points
decanted for 2.5hrs. much more developed than previous bottle. complex and layered. very similar to the 89 side by side.
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6/22/2017 - DAN BAILEY Likes this wine:
The most elegant of the 3 91 La Las. Really lovely and quite beguiling.
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3/16/2017 - pakabear Likes this wine: 97 Points
Great dark red and black fruits, tar, squid ink, some slight VA, silky palate very refreshing fruit and acidity, very long finish. Great wine!
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12/31/2016 - jhngo Likes this wine: 97 Points
Took time to open once it did was amazing. Iron blood roast meats. Killer.
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12/13/2016 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker BYO Holiday Dinner (Tribeca Grille): Opened this prob an hour into the night and decanted and at first it was all tight and tasted like a 2 year old wine. It opened up really well though over time and suspect it's a wine that would be even better the next day. A bit of meat and salinity and dark fruits. Very very good.
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12/8/2016 - dcwino wrote: 97 Points
Holiday Dinner - Champ, Burg, Bordeaux, Rhone and etc. (The Grill Room at Rosewood DC): Precise nose displaying sweet black fruit, a hint of dry cherry, tapenade, tar and earl grey. Nicely integrated concentrated palate, nicely layered, cherry and tapenade driven palate impression, good acidity, nicely integrated tannins and a long tapenade and tar driven finish. The fruit is no longer opulent and nicely integrated the overall expression. It is at the youthful peak.
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11/15/2016 - sb_guido Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened 90 minutes prior drinking (as suggested by producer).
Smoked meat and spicy aromas (bit of leather). Beautiful ripe fruit. Can be cellared for a few years without worries.
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11/9/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 94 Points
A very soft and supremely elegant showing tonight. Perfumed Burgundian nose. Sweet and ripe maraschino cherry fruit with some chai. Texturally silky. Not a lot of structure remaining although the finish is nuanced and very beautiful. The time to enjoy this is probably right now. Was obviously completely different, but ultimately blown away by another '91 La Turque enjoyed next.
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10/26/2016 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Stunning in every sense of the meaning, in the nose, with its its cornucopia of fragrances, on the palate, with its layers of dense, fresh, sweet, earthy, perfectly ripe berries and the finish that stuck with you for close to 60 seconds. WOW... While this is drinking great today, it's going to get even better with another 5 years in the bottle.
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9/14/2016 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 94 Points
Rare Northern Rhone Birthday - 1991: Dry relative to the ’91 La Turque served alongside. Woody, acrylics, and a touch of hay. Came back to this glass an hour or so later and it was totally different, very elegant and pretty, albeit with some wood remaining. Dry tannins on the palate.
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7/16/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 91 Points
Appeared to not be the freshest bottle. Somewhat muted and even slightly muddled on the palate. 91-92
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5/6/2016 - steinersing wrote: 97 Points
took some time to open up - nose elegant and with time bit of wild herbs. Tannins very smooth - quite amazing mid palette. And great length. Showing well.
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2/27/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 94 Points
Several layers of complexity on the nose, which continues to outperform the palate in my opinion. This bottle required drinking within a couple hours of opening as the backpalate dried out and become somewhat astringent at that point.
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1/12/2016 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 92 Points
Surprisingly unexpressive bottle. Dark cherry and plum with some old leather thrown in, but notably lacking in other expected elements on the nose. Lacked forceful substance on the palate. Not the equal of other bottles
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12/17/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
Mind blowing wine that is really coming into its own. The nose, with its spicy, peppery, earthy, black cherry liqueur fragrance really moved you. But that's topped with on the palate with a massive wall of powerful, sweet, ripe fruits that is intense, balanced, mouthfilling and long.
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11/7/2015 - Milos Likes this wine: 95 Points
A part of what I think has been the second greatest trio of related wines I ever tasted together; the 1991 La Landonne, La Mouline and the La Turque. Part of our dinner series with Heinz. Decanted for about 3 hours. Dark red and black fruit with pepper and meat notes, so classic. Mouth coating extract and long. Ready now.
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11/3/2015 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 97 Points
Tremendous nose of smoking meats, cote de boeuf, and bacon overpowering red and black cherry. Still pretty big on the palate but well integrated with black currant and more ripe red and black cherry fruit. Tannins have settled down into an ideal place for drinking right now, but there is definitely a lot of life remaining here. An awesome showing, typical of what everyone always says of LaLas.
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8/31/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Close to perfection, but this bottle was not quite there. This is not to take anything away from the sublime, smoky, tobacco, thyme, pepper and fresh, sweet cherry nose. Or the intense levels of concentration, power or richness that is clearly evident. Still young, this will only get better, gain in complexity and continue softening for decades to come.
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7/7/2015 - William Kelley Likes this wine: 95 Points
The 1991 La Landonne is one of the best Guigal wines I've encountered, with a lovely bouquet (that takes a bit of coaxing) of black fruit, plum, graphite, coco, roasted venison, woodsmoke and oak spice. On the palate the wine is still very youthful, with great intensity and a good deal of fine tannin. The impression is firm and masculine, and it really seems to need another decade.
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2/26/2015 - walkerjfw wrote: 95 Points
At CVA's 50th birthday gala in NYC - Bouley Botanical - great setting and amazing evening. Drank next to the 91 La Turque. Great comparison of two extraordinary "La Las"
Dark brick/garnet color. Very dark nose of black fruits, pepper, roasted meats/savory, mild barnyard. Palate was dark fruits, quite elegant. Notes of smoke, leather, herbs and garrigue. More tannic than the La Turque.
I think this is in its zone, should hold here for a while La/Las are as good as it gets for aged Rhone. Great opportunity to drink these two side/side
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10/9/2014 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
My first off bottle. It's hard to say what went wrong, but this bottle was good, but lacked the greatness one deserves in this special wine. I'm sure storage at some point was the issue. Provenance is worth paying for, especially on the best wines.
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1/27/2014 - S R U D I N Likes this wine: 96 Points
Special grapes... drinking like the nectar of the Gods.
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12/10/2013 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
Had some VA that punched warm berry fruit and chocolate smells up into the nostrils. It was sweet and rich in the mouth with some tar and earth development
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8/24/2013 - steinersing wrote: 99 Points
Extraordinary. The nose somewhat Burgundian, but the body great quality Syrah. Rich, complex, interesting - long finish. Double decanted 5 hours ahead, quite a lot of sediment and tannins, so worthwhile on two accounts.
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8/17/2013 - fhirsch Likes this wine: 97 Points
very dark nose with black fruits, minerals, graphite, pepper, roasted meats; on the palate it is sweet, complex, but painfully young (after 3-4h in the decanter); hold for at least another 5 years before drinking this
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7/22/2013 - BradE wrote:
Stunningly good, and paired beautifully with a 91 Jamet.
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3/8/2013 - Zweder wrote: flawed
This will be one tasting note for La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque 1991. The Mouline is the most brick colored. The Turque the darkest. All three wines have a beautiful, complex and expressive bouquet with rustic smells, beautiful herbs and spices, smoke, bacon etc. The Turque has the most powerful bouquet. The Mouline the most ready and complex and the Landonne the most barnyard and also something not really fresh. On the palate the Mouline is beautifully mature with a great complexity; herbs and spices e.g. clove completely melted tannin and a great length. The Turque is also mature, but is the most powerful. Beautiful garrigue as well and also ripe red and black berry fruits and tannin with still a firm bite. Good bitterness in the finish and still a future of several years. Th Landonne is a sad story; just after opening it showed good acidity and tannin with a firm bite which was a bit drying in the finish, but after a few minutes, with just a little more airtime it became clear the wine really was corked. Overall the Mouline was the most elegant wine and the Turque the most powerful and both great, complex wines with great finesse! No score for La Landonne. I scored the Mouline 97 and the Turque 98.
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3/8/2013 - WildeMeeuw Likes this wine: 89 Points
Kleur: Robijnrood Aroma / bouquet: In vergelijking met de Mouline en Turque: minder expressie. Kruidig. Beetje 'stoffig'. Smaak / Afdronk: Vol en krachtig, veel concentratie. Uitgesproken tannines, beetje hard / drogend. Wat 'korrelig'. Algemeen / potentieel: Stoere krachtwijn. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 11 + Smaak / Afdronk: 16 + Algemeen / potentieel: 7 = 89/100
Color: Ruby Aroma / Bouquet: Compared with Mouline and Turque: less expression. Spicy. Bit 'dusty'. Taste / Finish: Full and powerful, a lot of concentration. Pronounced tannins, little hard / drying. A bit 'grainy'. General / potential: Robust power wine. 50 + Colour: 5 + Aroma / Bouquet: 11 + Taste / Finish: 16 + General / potential: 7 = 89/100
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2/16/2013 - 83AJ Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark, but light on its feet. Great wine to kick of a great dinner. Burgundian style with some nice acid to keep it fresh. Dark fruits, tar and stones mixed with cherry blossom on the nose. A real treat, not to be missed.
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1/10/2013 - Lord Rayas Does not like this wine: 87 Points
MNSC Annual Dinner (Golden Leaf): dense and thick, but closed for business. disappointing.
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12/26/2012 - BradE wrote:
Drank a trio of 91 La La for Christmas dinner. Started with the La Landonne, which had a touch of sour on the finish. A great wine, that on its own would have been a treat. It really responded to air, and developed well over a couple of hours. The La Turque took things to a new level, simply an awesome wine. Total bacon fat, smoke, and very full throttled. The La Mouline presented very similar to the La Turque, very bacon and smoke, with a touch less opulence. All were great, but the La Turque and La Mouline were stunningly good.
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12/9/2012 - UTPK wrote:
This was extraordinary! Perfectly mature with soft animalistic notes, leather and fur, smoke, hint of bacon, but also still some dark berries in spite of its age. Very good balance, still fresh and extremely easy to drink.
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11/12/2012 - dvansteenderen Likes this wine: 96 Points
Oh LaLaLa tasting. This was served in the first flight, blind, straight from the bottle and without food.
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5/28/2012 - Alexis A wrote: 99 Points
Excellent. mature, nice color. Feels almost bordeaux-like
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3/25/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Smoke, boysenberry, flowers, black cherry liqueur, earth, charcoal, and creamy cherry scents created a complex perfume. Big, rich, mouth-filling, long and lush, this still tannic wine is powerful and intense. At 21 years of age, it’s slowly starting to flesh out. Give it another 5- 8 years and this will be off the charts!
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3/23/2012 - DAN BAILEY wrote:
Dark colour and a wine clearly in the young, darker end of the fruit spectrum. Full bodied, rich but still with an astringent finish. Needs time, certainly compared with the la turque served alongside it.
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12/22/2011 - dream wrote: 96 Points
Really lovely and regal wine with wonderful black fruit flavors that power through to a laser-like finish with wonderful notes of graphite, bitter chocolate and minerals. This wine is just at maturity and tastes like it's been chiseled from granite. Full-bodied but perfectly balanced with great cut and breed and a long, concentrated, complex finish. Hard to explain but I think this wine creates the impression of drinking melted metal. The best La Landonne I've ever had and it was neck and neck with the '90 Haut Brion....high praise indeed. LET THIS BREATH FOR HOURS IN A DECANTER BEFORE CONSUMING.
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11/14/2011 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 97 Points
An evening of Guigal La La's, Champagne and a few treats! (Scott & Jo's): I believe this was added late and did not get the decanting that the others got. Not too dissimilar from the 01 version despite ten years difference. However, after about an hour, this opened up much more. The nose is great with truffles, black and red raspberries, leather and charcoal. On the palate, the texture is soft and huge at the same time. Lots going on here as it unwinds. It is a moving target going from open to closed and back again with every visit. Fascinating wine.
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5/16/2011 - la turque wrote: 95 Points
Beautiful, although needed more time in the decanter. This will evolve well with time. Still very young.
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3/25/2011 - RiedelBeagle wrote: 94 Points
Decanted one hour before serving, and that seemed about right. I continued to drink it over the next four hours, and it never got any better.
Appealing but one-dimensional nose of Hermitage funk. After the one hour of decanting, the tannins were just right, achieving a velvety grip without feeling astringent. Pleasant funk on the palate as well, along with a sappy, piney note that was lovely at first, but ultimately became a little excessively biting after three or four more hours had elapsed, and the wine had lost its balance. The wine lacked complexity, and never yielded much fruit. Very pleasant to drink, but not what a '91 La-La should be.
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12/16/2010 - thenapalist wrote: 98 Points
Amazing! What else can I say? A long life ahead of this baby. Decant for at least 2-4hrs.
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9/10/2010 - Milhous wrote:
not as exhuberant as the 91 La Mouline, but cut from the same cloth. The density and gamy richness provides a great contrast to the more floral and high toned Mouline. Fantastic.
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6/15/2010 - la turque wrote: 99 Points
Wine dinner at Zucca Trattoria - all wines supplied by me.
My ratings:
WHITE
2005 Henri Boillot Meursault Les Charmes -- 95 -- Delicious, drinking now, with good fruit, balanced acidity and nice minerality
REDS
1997 Louis Jadot Bonnes Mares -- 93 -- Needs time - will be sublime in another 5 years
1995 Ornellaia (from Magnum) -- 95 -- Brilliant! Drinking now. Beautifully balanced; a rich mouthful
1996 Henri Perrot-Minot Charmes-Chambertin -- 95 -- Beautifully generous, although could do with more time in the bottle
1997 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild -- 96 -- Drinking beautifully. No one guessed this might be a 1997.
1989 Chateau Haut-Brion -- 99 -- First equal for WOTN. Unbelievable.
1997 Guigal Cote-Rotie “La Mouline” -- 96 -- Mature nose, lots of smoke, bacon and black fruits.
1991 Guigal Cote-Rotie “La Landonne” -- 99 -- First equal for WOTN. Unbelievable.
DESSERT
1937 Maury Domaines et Terroirs du Sud -- 94 -- Caramel, apricots; a delicious mouthful of dessert wine!
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3/9/2010 - BigRed1000 wrote: 94 Points
My favorite of the 91 La La's. More richness than the others and laced with fruit and oak undertones.
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10/7/2009 - BradE wrote:
Good, not great showing. Not what you expect out of a 91 La La (ie excellence), but good.
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6/29/2009 - Jeff Leve wrote: 96 Points
Spice, black fruit and minerality in the nose. Very concentrated and still seemingly youthful on the palate. This big wine is loaded with black fruit and an iron component. Long and mouth filling
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5/2/2009 - BradE wrote:
Light Lumber in the High Country - Part 2: Great wine, entering its drinking plateau, but still a bit young.
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10/1/2008 - la turque wrote: 100 Points
Decanted for three hours before consuming. An unbelievably sexy wine. The fruit is sweet, the tannins soft and melted, the acids in perfect balance. The nose of black fruits, smoke and bacon jumps out of the glass. The colour is very youthful, and the finish long and lingering. An incredible effort. Bravo.
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6/16/2008 - la turque wrote: 98 Points
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Thick, rich, black, with great fruit but beautiful balancing acidity and tannins. Decanted for three hours. Completely hedonistic, but will get more complex with time. The bacon fat and smokiness were just starting to show. Bravo!
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1/5/2008 - mimik wrote: 98 Points
Collingwood Tasting with Dokta, Futronic, Basecadet,Mimik and friends; 1/4/2008-1/5/2008: Flowery, raspberry and plum on the seductive nose with more plum and raspberry on the palate. So subtle but so deceiving. It completely caresses the mouth. Gorgeous texture and great length. Incredible. Better than the 1994 I had only a year earlier.
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1/5/2008 - futronic wrote: 98 Points
Wino Guys Weekend (WGW) #1; 1/4/2008-1/5/2008: Dark ruby colour. Aromas of spice, plums, minerals, talcum powder, mulled fruit/spice, vanilla, rosewater. Very clean on the nose. Medium-full bodied, with plums, currant, spice, smoke. Layered and ridiculously complex. Long, lingering finish, ~60+s, with spice, Christmas cake, and rum-soaked plums. With time, just a few hints of bacon start to develop on the nose.
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10/5/2007 - reichken wrote: 93 Points
Lunch at Chez Bruce (Chez Bruce, London): Lunch @ Chez Bruce with david wainwright
dark garnet color, nose of smokey meats and black fruits. decanted for like 45 min. this wine remains one of myfavorites to drink. this bottle had all the dark fruits and rhoney leather, smokey flavors i remember, it is mouth coating, heavyweight wine with a long finish, this bottle was a bit more closed than i remembered but still a big brooding wine that i wish i had more of
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9/20/2007 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Deep, dark and brooding, this powerful, concentrated display of ripe black fruit and minerals remains on your palate for close to sixty seconds.
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2/20/2007 - winefool wrote: 97 Points
40th Birthday Dinner (Charlie Trotters): Full deep purple/red color. Rowering aroma of blackberry cassis with spice, pepper, and leather notes. Incredibly layered rich blackberry cassis on the palate with round ripe sweet tannin. Finishes forever. A really profound wine...
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2/17/2007 - Eric wrote:
La La's with Leve at Providence (Los Angeles, CA): Lots of VA on the nose. A flawed bottle. :(
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5/11/2006 - la turque wrote: 99 Points
With MSP at Scaramouche. Fantastic. I would echo 100% my last tasting note.
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3/21/2006 - la turque wrote: 99 Points
Tasted at the Three Amigos Dinner. Peter brought this. What a fantastic wine!! Unbelievable depth and richness, beautiful integrated sweetness, acidity and tannin. A gorgeous wine. Truly outstanding! Still needs a couple of years.
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10/7/2005 - AJ72 wrote: flawed
Absolutely terrible. If this was the real thing I'd want my money back. Unfortunately this wine looked as if it had been left in the sun to mature.
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2/14/2005 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Black fruit, smoke, cassis and spicey wood notes were in full force. Very dense, thick wine with superb concentration. The palate gets the best part of this wine with endless waves of flavor. Very young, will improve for 2-3 decades
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2/14/2005 - Eric wrote: 93 Points
La La's with Leve in La La Land (Los Angeles, CA): Mt favorite of the flight, a first for the La Landonne. Spicy, black and powerful with an edge of sweet, powdered-sugar on the palate.
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11/14/2004 - Jeff Leve wrote: 97 Points
Intoxicating mineral, black fruit, spice, forest perfume. The fpalate is washed with waves of round, dense, dark fruit. Still young. Tannic and structured. Elegant and balanced with ample complexity keeps you interested in this wine.
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10/1/2004 - Rani wrote: 95 Points
Opaque garnet. The nose is incredible - fresh strawberries, eucalyptus, bacon fat. Immense concentration and depth, completely fills the mouth, chewy and fat. Jammy fruit (though not sweet), a hint of licorice and smokey bacon. Long finish. Great wine and will probably improve over the next decade.
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12/21/2003 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
This wine was served blind as an option alongside the La Mouline. It looked a lot less devoloped than the Mouline in colour and showed more primary fruit.The nose was super ripe raisin and prune fruits.There was some marzipan like devolopment and the chestnut oak seemed to be a little disjointed. No where near the elegance or balance that the Mouline had and perhaps needs a bit more time in the cellar to integrate.
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11/7/2003 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 93 Points
Red with thick core and only a faint browning at the rim. Scents of flower petals, tree bark and prunes. There's a raisiny quality to the taste, almost Pomerol-like. Medium concentration and slightly lacking in width, complexity and dimension. Medium body and slightly diffuse aftertaste. The great bouquet adds tremendously to the score here.
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5/10/2003 - Joe Belmaati wrote: 96 Points
As in the previous flight, this wine was by far the darkest and densest in colour, of the three wines. Indian spices on the nose. Like smelling a freshly cooked Chicken Tikka Masala dish. I have often wondered what Parker meant by Indian spices, but this must be it. Much more accesible that the first two wines in this flight. A hair lighter, but it's got all the flavour-dimensions. Nicely concentrated and complex in taste. Yet very tantalizing. I get the feeling that more is in store, though.
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