Dinner at Kel's (Kelvin and Joyce's Place, Bishan): Amazing again. Maybe not quite as stunning as the last bottle of 2017 I had, but this nevertheless remains one of the youngest drinking Turques I have tasted, and one of the best. What a nose this had - plums and cassis, violets and spice, smoke and butter. An amazing melange of sweet seductive scents. Heady and perfumed - it was absolutely seduction. The palate was just delicious too. Melting tannins, juicy lemony acidity, with beautifully pure flavours of dark cherries and wild berries, spice and biscuits, these garlanded with a blush of violets and a subtle minerality pulling away into a wonderfully elegant, quite endless finish. Such a beautiful wine, drinking wonderfully in its youth.
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This is special right from the outset. Smoke, Black cherry, spice, and floral notes. Much meatier than the others. Heft tannins, but so fine-grained that they are already well-integrated. Painfully young, this ends long with a fantastic finish.
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2021 Guigal single vineyard cote rotie release dinner (Bel & Brio, Barangaroo): Initially medium minus intensity aromas initially but opens with time to show black hued fruits; compote, earthy, spice, with time polished oak starts to show and the fruit becomes more perfumed. Juicy, savoury, quite concentrated, black fruits, tannins are talc textured persistent, proves savoury on the finish as well.
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Kings of Rhone tasting - by far the best Red of the line-up in my opinion. Massive nose, bigger than the ‘16 La Mouline, with the rich oak influence on full display. On the palate this is much more velvety and substantial than the La Moulin and Ex-Voto, with smoked meats, blueberry jam and sexy tannins. The finish lingers on and on. Stylistically very different from the Chapoutier Hermitages I’ve always gravitated to, in a nicely complementary way. One of the Kings of Rhone, indeed…
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A simply stunning wine, full of grace, and a beautiful silky floral expression of Cote-Rotie.
Colour was medium/dark ruby. Nose was of lovely blue fruits, but very floral and graceful without sacrificing depth or power. Palate was impeccably balanced with vibrant, silky red fruits and again the floral notes, hint of bacon and subtle vanilla flavours giving it depth and complexity. Beautifully delicate yet somehow still rich, generous and powerful, an incredibly graceful expression of this warmer vintage. Firm but velvety tannins on a lengthy finish.
Exceptional already but with plenty of upside.
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Wine Advocate Kings of Rhone Online Masterclass: A gorgeous nose with a complex melange of red fruits. Stewed strawberries and forest floor with mushrooms, smoke and oak. Superfine tannins. The flavors lasts for minutes on the long beautiful finish.
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Kings of Rhone Masterclass (Casa Esperanza): Wow. Clearly a La Turque cut from the cloth of a warmer vintage, but what a great wine this was nonetheless. It just about floored me. This had a ridiculous nose. Pure La Turque in its perfumed witchery, with violets and blueberries, black cherries and cream, all haunted by notes of wild herb and garrigue. A sweet, creamy, dark, lifted, perfumed bouquet. Amazing. The palate was both ripe with the warmth of the vintage, yet wonderfully fresh and balanced at the same time; with wonderful layers of sweet dark cherries and blueberry pie infused with a bewitching perfume of warm peppery spice and crushed violets. A wine of emotion and energy, just all swirling out of the glass. There certainly was structure there, with a real sense of muscle under all that perfume, but the tannins were so fine, and the acidity so pure, that you do not really sense the sinew unless you went looking for it. Good finish too - long and charming, with a delicious mix of fruit and spice pulling away on a bed of very fresh acidity. Wow. Beguiling now, but this really is a wine for the ages - a La Turque that will age beautifully for just about forever.
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Kings of Rhône: Kings of Rhône virtual masterclass moderated by WA‘s Joe Czerwinski featuring both Michel Chapoutier and Philippe Guigal who presented 5 wines each. Including shipping and storage, all wines spent approx. 1 week in a screw cap phial. In this direct face-off, Guigal had the upper hand claiming the top 3 wines: La Turque 2017 (98), La Mouline 2016 (97), Ex-Voto Blanc 2017 (96). Chapoutier's top wine was the Le Pavillon 2015 (95). Full list included in the tasting story.
Tasting note: Game and smoked bacon, sweet spices, pipe tobacco, crushed pepper. Despite the youth, there is impeccable balance, great freshness and lots of tension. This is a towering wine, standing tall and proud, definitely more muscular than La Mouline, but still manages to pull off finessed and elegant character in any comparison.
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4/7/2023 - anonymoose12345 Likes this wine:
2017 La La tasting at The Thief in Walla Walla
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1/22/2022 - Paul S wrote: 96 Points
Dinner at Kel's (Kelvin and Joyce's Place, Bishan): Amazing again. Maybe not quite as stunning as the last bottle of 2017 I had, but this nevertheless remains one of the youngest drinking Turques I have tasted, and one of the best. What a nose this had - plums and cassis, violets and spice, smoke and butter. An amazing melange of sweet seductive scents. Heady and perfumed - it was absolutely seduction. The palate was just delicious too. Melting tannins, juicy lemony acidity, with beautifully pure flavours of dark cherries and wild berries, spice and biscuits, these garlanded with a blush of violets and a subtle minerality pulling away into a wonderfully elegant, quite endless finish. Such a beautiful wine, drinking wonderfully in its youth.
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11/6/2021 - ews3 wrote: 97 Points
This is special right from the outset. Smoke, Black cherry, spice, and floral notes. Much meatier than the others. Heft tannins, but so fine-grained that they are already well-integrated. Painfully young, this ends long with a fantastic finish.
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11/3/2021 - chatters wrote:
2021 Guigal single vineyard cote rotie release dinner (Bel & Brio, Barangaroo): Initially medium minus intensity aromas initially but opens with time to show black hued fruits; compote, earthy, spice, with time polished oak starts to show and the fruit becomes more perfumed. Juicy, savoury, quite concentrated, black fruits, tannins are talc textured persistent, proves savoury on the finish as well.
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10/24/2021 - wxs2102 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Kings of Rhone tasting - by far the best Red of the line-up in my opinion. Massive nose, bigger than the ‘16 La Mouline, with the rich oak influence on full display. On the palate this is much more velvety and substantial than the La Moulin and Ex-Voto, with smoked meats, blueberry jam and sexy tannins. The finish lingers on and on. Stylistically very different from the Chapoutier Hermitages I’ve always gravitated to, in a nicely complementary way. One of the Kings of Rhone, indeed…
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10/23/2021 - Hendmo Likes this wine: 98 Points
A simply stunning wine, full of grace, and a beautiful silky floral expression of Cote-Rotie.
Colour was medium/dark ruby. Nose was of lovely blue fruits, but very floral and graceful without sacrificing depth or power. Palate was impeccably balanced with vibrant, silky red fruits and again the floral notes, hint of bacon and subtle vanilla flavours giving it depth and complexity. Beautifully delicate yet somehow still rich, generous and powerful, an incredibly graceful expression of this warmer vintage. Firm but velvety tannins on a lengthy finish.
Exceptional already but with plenty of upside.
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10/23/2021 - nywine68 wrote: 96 Points
Wine Advocate Kings of Rhone Online Masterclass: A gorgeous nose with a complex melange of red fruits. Stewed strawberries and forest floor with mushrooms, smoke and oak. Superfine tannins. The flavors lasts for minutes on the long beautiful finish.
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10/16/2021 - Paul S wrote: 97 Points
Kings of Rhone Masterclass (Casa Esperanza): Wow. Clearly a La Turque cut from the cloth of a warmer vintage, but what a great wine this was nonetheless. It just about floored me. This had a ridiculous nose. Pure La Turque in its perfumed witchery, with violets and blueberries, black cherries and cream, all haunted by notes of wild herb and garrigue. A sweet, creamy, dark, lifted, perfumed bouquet. Amazing. The palate was both ripe with the warmth of the vintage, yet wonderfully fresh and balanced at the same time; with wonderful layers of sweet dark cherries and blueberry pie infused with a bewitching perfume of warm peppery spice and crushed violets. A wine of emotion and energy, just all swirling out of the glass. There certainly was structure there, with a real sense of muscle under all that perfume, but the tannins were so fine, and the acidity so pure, that you do not really sense the sinew unless you went looking for it. Good finish too - long and charming, with a delicious mix of fruit and spice pulling away on a bed of very fresh acidity. Wow. Beguiling now, but this really is a wine for the ages - a La Turque that will age beautifully for just about forever.
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10/9/2021 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Kings of Rhône: Kings of Rhône virtual masterclass moderated by WA‘s Joe Czerwinski featuring both Michel Chapoutier and Philippe Guigal who presented 5 wines each. Including shipping and storage, all wines spent approx. 1 week in a screw cap phial. In this direct face-off, Guigal had the upper hand claiming the top 3 wines: La Turque 2017 (98), La Mouline 2016 (97), Ex-Voto Blanc 2017 (96). Chapoutier's top wine was the Le Pavillon 2015 (95). Full list included in the tasting story.
Tasting note:
Game and smoked bacon, sweet spices, pipe tobacco, crushed pepper. Despite the youth, there is impeccable balance, great freshness and lots of tension. This is a towering wine, standing tall and proud, definitely more muscular than La Mouline, but still manages to pull off finessed and elegant character in any comparison.
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