Acker Guigal La La dinner

Yeah, so wow. David way outdid himself with this one. Amazing wines and a great mix of the older and younger and stunning vintages and ok vintages and really getting an understanding of the different vineyards - La Mouline, La Landonne, La Turque. To my taste, the La Turque was often the animalistic one - more of the briney/olive/meat that I associate with the region. The Landonne was always a bit darker and sometimes a touch shy. The La Mouline most accessible and always with a lovely elegance and more the hint of red flowers (the others more often violets and lavender). This was one of those just perfect evenings as all of the above was accompanied with great people.

Custom dinner menu by Chef Jeremiah Langhorne

CHARRED LETTUCES
Bacon, Hush Puppies and Smoked Honey

This course worked a lot better with red wine than I would have thought. Really quite nice actually.

• 1987 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  First glass of the night and the nose on this is just incredibly compelling and set the stage for a phenomenal night. Lots of elegance here, violets, a touch lighter than the other two (some thought that meant this was end of life, it me it just felt a touch more tight). Funny because it had one of the most expressive noses of the night.

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• 1987 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  The most 'classic Northern Rhone' in that animalistic way. More meaty and olive and brine. Very powerful. Great comparison point to La Mouline which was more in the refined and elegant way.

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• 1987 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Part of an '87 flight of LaLas and interesting to see the differences across. This was somewhere in between the Landonne and Turque. Here i got rose petals, currants, some of the animal, touch of elegance. It continued to open up over the course of the evening. Very tasty.

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SMOKED & GRILLED TROUT
Heirloom Beans, Sorrel, Red Wine Sauce

• 1994 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Got a bit of the animal here but again a touch quieter than some of the other wines in the flight. This comes across as quite young. Some vanilla. Lots of tannins and grip. Not really ready yet I don't think.

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• 1994 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  A personal favorite for me perhaps because it was the wine that got me to recognize the specialness of these wines and get more active in collecting. A big wine, but also a great one and with a very well set up structure. Lots of rose petal and lavendar and maybe hints of fruit underneath. I really enjoyed it. CT drinking window doesn't do it justice - this is still going strong.

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• 1982 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Lovely smoke which just jumps right out at you. This was funny because there was almost a blackberry compote piece to it as well. Again that youngness that makes you realize the wine is going to last for many decades more (CT windows seem off on all of these). It's quite tasty. Nice to see how the age allows a bit more of the flavors to open up.

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ROASTED DUCK BREAST
Smoked Celery Root, Kumquats

• 1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Again I am getting more of the floral notes here. Violets, petals, very young and a bit smooth. Some vanilla. Just a touch of the 'pretty' sense to it. It's tasty, but I wouldn't be surprised if not really ready for business for another 10-15 years (and able to go much longer than that).

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• 1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Wow is this an intense wine. I have that word three times in my notes. It's got the red currant and the oak is still obvious here. Touch of animal coming through. Needs a lot more time. But lots of interesting components so interested to see where it ends up.

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• 1997 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Again lots of black fruits. A bit smoother or maybe less in your face than the '98s were. This is a wine that you could sip for hours and every sip would be just a bit different. Hints of spice. With time red fruits come through. A bit of sweetness almost. Bacon fat. It's a well done wine and was great to come back to later in the night.

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• 1997 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  A favorite of the night. This wine is compelling. More black fruits and very vivid flavors and an integration (it's the integration in all of the flavors that makes it stand out more than some of its peers). For me still young to be drinking, but with a good decant could see it working. Very glad to see we have a few of these sitting in the cellar. Will let them continue to hang out there, but now I'm quite looking forward.

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PORK BELLY
Sweet Potato, Swiss Chard

• 2005 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  It's a very young wine (esp for a LaLa), but there's some great promise here and to me really stood out compared to the 2003 (which I think was the more celebrated vintage). At this point it's mostly like a trip through a spice cabinet. Maybe a hint of fir. Some green notes. Barnyard funk. The balance though here at this stage makes me think it will be really something. Lovely.

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• 2003 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  In a tasting of mostly stellar wines I'd put this more in the good category. Perhaps my least favorite of the group (but again - lots of aged LaLa's here). I think it was the much lower acidity that got me. Very bright and young and came across as a bit heavier than the others. There's something still quite tasty about it and can understand how it could have gotten 100 points from ppl who like the bigger styles. For me, I found the 2005 a bit more interesting in this flight.

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LAMP CHOP
Farotto, Winter Cress, Sunchoke Miso

This was all smoke and really brought out some great flavors in the wines

• 1991 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  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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• 1990 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  A lot more opulent than the '91 served alongside it this was lower acidity and clearly from a warmer vintage. Again some fruit compote. Very tasty though. It's a wine that pulls a bit more from the hedonistic side. I liked it. Again though comes across as very young. This wine is going to last for ages.

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• 1989 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  One of my contenders for WOTN. It's just such an amazing combination of power and beauty in one wine. Lovely fruit and still the animal character that I love from these wines. It's a clearly special wine. I could sit and contemplate for hours.

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• 1988 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Again an amazing wine. Strength to strength. The age here puts it in just the right spot. A perfect blend. Get some sage here which I hadn't from some of the other wines. Adds a kindof enticing spice to it. Also some fruit and the acidity is well structured. Just great. Another contender for WOTN.

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• 1985 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  This is again really something. The last wine of a flight that was just crazy good. Spice and herbal and fruit and again a wine that I put into consideration for WOTN. Not a bad end to a pretty fantastic meal.

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So in this embarrassment of riches it's hard to pick a WOTN. There were so many that were just so good. To be fair the first horizontal could easily be WOTN at many meals. Some notables though include the 1997 La Mouline, 1989 La Mouline, 1988 La Turque. Longer term I did enjoy the 2005 La Turque. And the 1994 La Mouline is always a favorite of mine.

Great dinner.