Four Decades of LaLa, plus a "sneaky" Saxum

What started as an idea for a casual Northern Rhone dinner with brisket quickly escalated into a terrific horizontal blind tasting of Guigal's LaLa wines. Overall, I was slightly disappointed in the showing as the wines didn't live up to the very high expectations one has for LaLas. Having said that, there were some terrific high points including the epic 1990 La Mouline and the La Mouline / La Landonne pair from 2000. The ringer Saxum was also outstanding, though it stuck out like a sore thumb in the lineup.

• 2004 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  Fresh and youthfully exuberant. Laser like precision thanks to the acid backbone and mineral notes.

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• 1996 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut 92 Points

  France, Champagne

  Beautiful mature aromas of baked bread, mushroom, honey and toasted nuts with mature apple notes in the background. Palate has plenty of acid-driven lift and persistence. More mature fruit and earth notes. Long finish. In a great spot if you liked those aged notes, though I prefer my Champagne a bit more spry.

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• 2005 Rene Rostaing Condrieu La Bonnette 85 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  Medium nose of white florals, spice and orchard fruit. Palate is heavy and showing tired. Acid has started to fade and the waxy fruit is dense, really weighing down the wine. I'm afraid this is over the hill with it's best days long gone.

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• 1994 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Brown ruby in color and fading on the edges. Initial pass had gorgeous aromatics of aged black fruit, iron, black pepper, and leather. However the nose faded after ~30-45 minutes into a much more meek set of aromas. Palate has lighter body with polished black fruit and buoyant acidity. Flavors echo the nose though with only a moderate intensity. My #2, Group #5 in the flight (though i would have dropped my ranking at the 45 minute mark).

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• 1990 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 98 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Light brown ruby and fading at the edge. Gorgeous, dense nose of earth funk, leather, iodine, bacon fat, black pepper integrated with mature black fruits. Oh my, on the palate this has a massive attack of delicious, savory, meaty black fruit with black pepper and earth accents. Long and sustained on the palate. Great concentration of fruit at 25+ years of age. A real stunner. My #1, Group #1 in the flight.

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• 1992 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Light brown ruby and fading on the edge. Initially shy nose with seemingly tired fruit with some earth tones picks up intensity and complexity with ~45 minutes in the glass. More black pepper and spice with time. On the palate, this has medium weight with polished, savory fruit. Crunchy underlying acid structure. Complex, savory flavors of wild game, green herbs and black pepper. My #3, Group #4 in the flight.

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• 1974 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 86 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Brown ruby and translucent -- clearly looks older. Medium nose of stems and sweet fruit. Palate has light body with mature meaty black fruit and balsamic notes. This shows a bit tired and lacks acid. Very cool glimpse into 40+ year old LaLa, and a birth year wine to boot! But over the hill. My #6, Group #6 in the flight.

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• 1986 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Ruby red and fading at the edge. Full nose of savory black fruit, game and black pepper. Palate has lively fruit that is still sweet and round with just a wicked dose of cracked black pepper. With time in the glass, this gets better and better. My #4, Group #3 in the flight (though I would have ranked this higher if voting was taken a bit later).

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• 1995 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Ruby with more color intensity than other wines in the flight. On the first pass, I was unimpressed with the aromatics as they seemed a bit flat with sweeter black fruit and little complexity. With air though, this blossomed to show lifted floral notes, spice, herbs and cracked black pepper. Similarly, the palate started slow showing very simple initially but with time there was more intensity and depth as the wine took on brooding, dense personality. My #5, Group #2 (once again, I misread this wine on the first pass and ended up bumping it from a 90 to 93 points).

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• 1997 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Light translucent ruby. Nose has modest aromas of blackberry and herbs. Lighter bodied palate with clean, slick black fruit. Modest black pepper and spice. Really simple showing without much character or complexity. Shut down? My #6, Group #5 in the flight.

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• 1997 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Light translucent ruby. Medium nose of black fruit, fresh cut herb, incense, and spice. Medium weight palate has good concentration of meaty black fruit. Brawny and chunky finish. Good stuffing but not showing a ton right now. Others liked this better than me. My #7, Group #3 in the flight.

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• 2005 Saxum 44 Month Barrel Age James Berry Vineyard 95 Points

  USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Quite obviously a ringer from the new world. Deep dark purple in color. Big, rich nose of candied black fruit, with exotic spice, incense, smoked meat and black pepper. Delicious in the mouth with confected black fruit and an array of spice, meat and herb notes. The fruit is concentrated yet lifted and elegant. I was guessing SQN. A misfit in the lineup, but a well made wine in the style. Voting was polarizing as many placed this last, but credit where credit is due ... this is fantastic. Interesting ringer as this is mostly Syrah and sees a similar extended aging elevage to LaLa. My #1, Group #4 in the flight.

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• 2001 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Ruby red. Nose is non-delineated with black fruit and herb. Medium weight on the palate with polished, chewy black fruit. Medium acid. Missing a little something, perhaps power and liveliness -- that the best wines showed tonight. My #5, Group #7 in the flight.

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• 2000 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Deep concentrated ruby. Gorgeous, 'wow', aromatics leap from the glass -- big peppery black fruit, smoked sausage, bacon and spice. On the palate this is amazing and seamless with savory, peppery black fruit that is at one powerful and lithe. Long, lifted, persistent ... just keeps going with complex, savory notes. I liked this much more than the group. My #2, Group #6.

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• 2000 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Deep concentrated ruby. Lifted but brooding and massive aromatics of black fruits, smoke, herbs and spice. The palate is medium to full bodied with a powerful yet lifted presence. Smooth black fruit is made complex by black pepper, spice and smoked meat. Fresh, long and silky in the mouth. As good as the 00 La Landonne tasted right next to this. My #3 (but in a virtual tie with my #2), Group #2.

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• 2004 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Tasted blind among 13 wines, 11 of which were LaLas. Deep concentrated ruby. Medium nose of black fruit, florals, black pepper and herbs. A wow palate with dense, delicious black fruit and spice. Youthful and brooding. With lots of everything. Not as complex or cerebral but delicious on a hedonistic level. My #4, Group #1 in the flight.

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