This is an excellent food wine to stand up to strong flavors, without running them over. I was surprised by how accessible this was, usually Landonne takes the most time to come around of all the La La's. I suppose we can thank the 2011 vintage for the precociousness. Bottle was opened two hours before serving, and was showing quite well with deep, opulent fruit. Only nit might be the strong aroma of tire on first pour, sounds weird but it was quite strong and I got past it but could see how this might turn people off.
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One of those heavenly moments where everything aligns. Opened bottle 4pm took a swig to test and get a bit of air circ and slow ox for 3-4 hours until dinner. Wow, what a wine. Glycerine slippery dark smooth earthy and incredibly delicious, in a great place. Improved after an hour, saline tang emerged for freshness, could this get better? And then a slow decline as it tightened up. A journey. Very temp sensitive we drank it 18-20 degrees. Cooler it closed down, warmer too lost shape.
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Really hard tannins, chewing on oak, astringent on first day. Opens up on second day. After decanting second day, starts to be much better. I have three more bottles and looking forward to opening them in a few years. I think it needs a few years in bottle and can reap rewards starting in 2026. Don't give up yet.
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March Rhônes (Chicago, IL): Tastes more like oak than syrah. Maybe it'll integrate, but I'm not betting on it. Nothing like the brilliant 2016 Turque last week. The scores clearly reflect the label, not the wine.
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Tasted blind. Clearly a difficult stage in it's development, very closed and angular. Ripe for Syrah from Cote-Rotie. Yet something green in the back end. Perhaps Grange? The oak is extremely prominent. Not sure who thought 42 months in new French oak was a good idea, I personally don't. The wine seems way over the top in more than one aspect. Ends up smelling chemical and being harsh. Might turn out great in 20 years, but horrible at the moment. None of the Cote-Rotie coolness and elegance
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Disappointing. Big label and very high ratings. But the wine in the bottle is a good Côte Rôtie, nothing more. The nose is very complex, but the palate doesn't follow the example.
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Dalluge's btl at Siggy's 50th Bday dinner at Spoon & Stable. This came late in the night as I was getting barraged by "try this from the other table". My recollection however was that it showed less weighty then I expected and was quite elegant. Almost pretty for NR. Enjoyed a couple sips but was in wine consumption back off mode as the evening was winding down. For sure, a NR lovers dream! Wish I had more time and remaining sobriety to give it more justice.
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Virtual Men's Wine night (Zoom): From carafes poured two hours earlier. Still very tight. Nose of smoked meat. Dense and earthy on the palate with lemon zest and finish of liquid smoke. These are very special wines even drunk young although it needs quite a bit more cellar time to mature fully. My #1 of 5 and the group's #3.
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SLDS New Year #2: Meat and game, with some stem action to go with the floral notes. Powerful palate, with lots of structure from the oak and a dense fruit core. Still feels tight and in need of development, if the brett doesn't take over then this will end up in a nice spot in the next 10 or so years.
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Une premier nez exceptionnel qui s’est malheureusement (un peu) refermé à l’aération. Une couleur somptueuse, une puissance incroyable et en même temps une finesse magnifique. Trop jeune mais tellement bon!
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Still very young, the 2011 La Landonne is a genuinely classy wine. Dark as night, the wine has a very slightly satiny texture. Extremely aromatic and totally sexy: Black Cherry, cracked walnuts, beeswax, and toffee on the nose. Rather tart and a bit tight, the wine needs a lot of air and really should be left in the cellar for another decade. Yet even now the purity of the fruit and the soft polish of the tannins make for an irresistible combination. Immense promise!
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Sommelier Appreciation Dinner 2020 (The Brown Residence): Medium concentration, red and black fruit, coffee, mocha, strong green/pyrazine/LBT and earth. Medium concentration, hollow mid-palate and a medium to short finish. Reminds me some of the 11 red Burgs.
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Short note - cured and dried meat, pepper, game meat, dark chocolate, blackberries, concentrated and intense aromas, well balanced, raw, this is exceptional, long finish, 95p
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I tasted it quite some time ago and it was just a small pour of may 80ml or thereabouts, so I don't have a detailed description handy but what I remember is the sense of inner harmony and expressive power without much weight. The nose reminded me of 1996 chateau margaux. Truly a unique wine and ready to drink in my opinion.
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Big Balled Burgundy. Excellent! Huge Syrah, massive flavor with tannins galore, smoked leather and steak with a hint of green grass and black currant, berries. Glad I only tasted one glass of this one via Coravin. It needs more time, but this is going to be spectacular once it chills out a bit. Its great now. I would wait a while.
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Guigal "La La's" with Brett Crittenden (Glengarry Wines and Spirits, Victoria Park, Auckland, New Zealand): As always, the most dense, most backward and most "masculine" of the three La Las. Deepest black fruits, graphite, steely intensity with a touch of a Camembert-rind nuance. This is really structured and offers a perfect syrah expression, including a touch of green quality, that is likely a character of the vintage. I see this as approaching "perfectio over the next two decades. All three of these wines are a testament to the quality of wine making and suggest that 2011 is a great vintage for these wines - in that they are fully expressive and promise much for the future. 97+
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3/20/2024 - Alex G. Likes this wine:
This is an excellent food wine to stand up to strong flavors, without running them over. I was surprised by how accessible this was, usually Landonne takes the most time to come around of all the La La's. I suppose we can thank the 2011 vintage for the precociousness. Bottle was opened two hours before serving, and was showing quite well with deep, opulent fruit. Only nit might be the strong aroma of tire on first pour, sounds weird but it was quite strong and I got past it but could see how this might turn people off.
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5/26/2023 - mpoel wrote: 90 Points
Battle with John - disappointment of the evening. Expected much more. Seems in an awkward place at the moment. A bit all over the place - lacks focus
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5/25/2023 - jmoon Likes this wine: 97 Points
One of those heavenly moments where everything aligns. Opened bottle 4pm took a swig to test and get a bit of air circ and slow ox for 3-4 hours until dinner. Wow, what a wine. Glycerine slippery dark smooth earthy and incredibly delicious, in a great place. Improved after an hour, saline tang emerged for freshness, could this get better? And then a slow decline as it tightened up. A journey. Very temp sensitive we drank it 18-20 degrees. Cooler it closed down, warmer too lost shape.
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4/3/2023 - stepchoihk Likes this wine: 92 Points
Really hard tannins, chewing on oak, astringent on first day. Opens up on second day. After decanting second day, starts to be much better. I have three more bottles and looking forward to opening them in a few years. I think it needs a few years in bottle and can reap rewards starting in 2026. Don't give up yet.
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3/12/2023 - acyso wrote: 80 Points
March Rhônes (Chicago, IL): Tastes more like oak than syrah. Maybe it'll integrate, but I'm not betting on it. Nothing like the brilliant 2016 Turque last week. The scores clearly reflect the label, not the wine.
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3/25/2022 - ThomasV Does not like this wine: 85 Points
Tasted blind. Clearly a difficult stage in it's development, very closed and angular. Ripe for Syrah from Cote-Rotie. Yet something green in the back end. Perhaps Grange? The oak is extremely prominent. Not sure who thought 42 months in new French oak was a good idea, I personally don't. The wine seems way over the top in more than one aspect. Ends up smelling chemical and being harsh. Might turn out great in 20 years, but horrible at the moment. None of the Cote-Rotie coolness and elegance
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1/11/2022 - jusuf Likes this wine: 94 Points
Disappointing. Big label and very high ratings. But the wine in the bottle is a good Côte Rôtie, nothing more. The nose is very complex, but the palate doesn't follow the example.
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11/5/2021 - chablis28 wrote: 93 Points
Dalluge's btl at Siggy's 50th Bday dinner at Spoon & Stable. This came late in the night as I was getting barraged by "try this from the other table". My recollection however was that it showed less weighty then I expected and was quite elegant. Almost pretty for NR. Enjoyed a couple sips but was in wine consumption back off mode as the evening was winding down. For sure, a NR lovers dream! Wish I had more time and remaining sobriety to give it more justice.
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5/10/2021 - ShadowIII Likes this wine: 93 Points
garnet edges, spice, roasted meats, nuts, smoke, dark fruits, medium body, thought this was older than 2011
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2/27/2021 - Dnordh wrote: 86 Points
Mouline is mich better in my opinion. This is a bit too closed, fully taste on first sip but dies fast.
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2/22/2021 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 95 Points
Virtual Men's Wine night (Zoom): From carafes poured two hours earlier. Still very tight. Nose of smoked meat. Dense and earthy on the palate with lemon zest and finish of liquid smoke. These are very special wines even drunk young although it needs quite a bit more cellar time to mature fully. My #1 of 5 and the group's #3.
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1/12/2021 - CamWheeler wrote: 92 Points
SLDS New Year #2: Meat and game, with some stem action to go with the floral notes. Powerful palate, with lots of structure from the oak and a dense fruit core. Still feels tight and in need of development, if the brett doesn't take over then this will end up in a nice spot in the next 10 or so years.
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7/27/2020 - Vineyard Boy Likes this wine: 94 Points
Quality of grapes and final product - 97
My rating based on my palette - 94
Great juice, I just prefer bigger wines. I preferred the 2012 Delas La Landonne
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3/19/2020 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 95 Points
Une premier nez exceptionnel qui s’est malheureusement (un peu) refermé à l’aération.
Une couleur somptueuse, une puissance incroyable et en même temps une finesse magnifique.
Trop jeune mais tellement bon!
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2/26/2020 - KPB Likes this wine: 96 Points
Still very young, the 2011 La Landonne is a genuinely classy wine. Dark as night, the wine has a very slightly satiny texture. Extremely aromatic and totally sexy: Black Cherry, cracked walnuts, beeswax, and toffee on the nose. Rather tart and a bit tight, the wine needs a lot of air and really should be left in the cellar for another decade. Yet even now the purity of the fruit and the soft polish of the tannins make for an irresistible combination. Immense promise!
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2/9/2020 - dcwino wrote: 91 Points
Sommelier Appreciation Dinner 2020 (The Brown Residence): Medium concentration, red and black fruit, coffee, mocha, strong green/pyrazine/LBT and earth. Medium concentration, hollow mid-palate and a medium to short finish. Reminds me some of the 11 red Burgs.
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7/7/2019 - zding Likes this wine: 95 Points
Masculine presentation of meat, smoke and spices. Still many good years in it.
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2/8/2019 - Ebrim Likes this wine: 95 Points
Short note - cured and dried meat, pepper, game meat, dark chocolate, blackberries, concentrated and intense aromas, well balanced, raw, this is exceptional, long finish, 95p
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1/26/2019 - rylanreynolds wrote: 98 Points
Phenomenal
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12/13/2017 - IvanLi Likes this wine: 100 Points
I tasted it quite some time ago and it was just a small pour of may 80ml or thereabouts, so I don't have a detailed description handy but what I remember is the sense of inner harmony and expressive power without much weight.
The nose reminded me of 1996 chateau margaux. Truly a unique wine and ready to drink in my opinion.
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11/28/2017 - seanman Likes this wine:
Big Balled Burgundy. Excellent! Huge Syrah, massive flavor with tannins galore, smoked leather and steak with a hint of green grass and black currant, berries. Glad I only tasted one glass of this one via Coravin. It needs more time, but this is going to be spectacular once it chills out a bit. Its great now. I would wait a while.
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10/22/2017 - steinersing wrote: 97 Points
quite masculine, oak surprisingly integrated already
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6/25/2017 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Lean and pure and super tight over three hours and didn't loosen. Needs 10 years.
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2/10/2017 - dpolivy wrote:
Vindredi (Hermitage vs Cote Rotie, and friends) (Bellevue, WA): Tasted blind. Smoke, dried meat, menthol, spice. Elevated brightness but still beautiful. Red fruit, spice on the palate. Structured but fine tannins, and overall a nice elegance.
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12/13/2015 - steinersing wrote: 96 Points
Shows well now, silky
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9/9/2015 - Marc wrote: 97 Points
Guigal "La La's" with Brett Crittenden (Glengarry Wines and Spirits, Victoria Park, Auckland, New Zealand): As always, the most dense, most backward and most "masculine" of the three La Las. Deepest black fruits, graphite, steely intensity with a touch of a Camembert-rind nuance. This is really structured and offers a perfect syrah expression, including a touch of green quality, that is likely a character of the vintage. I see this as approaching "perfectio over the next two decades. All three of these wines are a testament to the quality of wine making and suggest that 2011 is a great vintage for these wines - in that they are fully expressive and promise much for the future. 97+
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