Another wine that's drinking beautifully today is the 2000 Cote Rotie la Landonne. An upfront, perfumed, complex and ready-to-drink beauty, it offers sexy notes of smoked meats, olive, game, truffle and graphite. These give way to a full-bodied, elegant Cote Rotie that has no hard edges, a soft, forward feel and a great finish. It doesn't have the sheer weight of density of a top year, but excels on its drinkability. It's a beautiful wine.

Full ruby-red. Brooding aromas of raw currant, leather and menthol; a bit Hermitage-like on the nose. Then quite backward for the vintage, even a bit youthfully tough. Flavors of raw currant, leather, tobacco and roasted herbs. This has terrific backbone for aging and comes across as distinctly firmer than La Mouline or La Turque.

The 2000 Cote Rotie La Landonne is the most powerful and primordial of the 2000 La La’s, not surprising given this cuvee’s telltale earthy, leathery characteristics that are intermixed with notes of truffles, licorice, blackberries, and pepper. Medium to full-bodied, with moderate tannin and good density, it should hit its prime in 2-3 years, and last for 14-15.

100% Syrah, clay and calcareous soil, fermented in stainless steel vats, minimum of 4 weeks’ cuvaison, aged in small oak casks for 42 months. Dark crimson. Dumb, though vaguely leathery nose (on both bottles). Some liquorice and definite austerity. This brute doesn’t want to be disturbed…. Really chewy and introvert and muscular. (JR)