Last of the single vineyard Côte Rôties, the La Landonne comes from a lieu-dit on the Côte Brune side of the appellation (as does the La Turque) and is 100% Syrah. It too spends four years in new French oak. The 2014 Côte Rôtie La Landonne gets my nod for the wine of the vintage and has rock star notes of black fruits, smoked meat, underbrush, and black olives. It’s medium to full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, rich, and layered, and has more depth and length than just about every wine in the vintage. Hats off to the Guigal family for making such a stunning wine in a difficult vintage. The big news at the Guigal estate is the purchase of Domaine de Nalys in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The family has always wanted an estate in the South, and Nalys is an unrealized treasure trove of awesome terroir and old vines, both of which I’ve no doubt will be maximized by this talented family. In addition, the former winemaker at Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Jacques Desvernois, has joined the team, and while it’s not clear exactly what his role will be, I suspect he will largely lead the charge at Domaine de Nalys. Either way, Desvernois is an incredible talent and can only add to what is already a well-oiled machine. As to the wines reviewed in this report, I was able to taste multiple vintages of each of the cuvées and have listed the wines by cuvée as opposed to by vintage, which is how we tasted through the wines.

While the 2014 Cote Rotie La Landonne looked like the pick of the litter from barrel, now that it's in bottle, it's closed down a bit and is showing more of its stemmy, whole-bunch character. Medium to full-bodied, it's the most potent and concentrated of the La Las but considerably less charming at this point in time, with brooding, dark fruit, hints of espresso and black olive on the palate and a chewy, tannic finish. Give it at least 5 years in the cellar before checking in on it.

Dark purple. Expansive cassis, blueberry liqueur, olive paste, vanilla and candied licorice aromas are lifted by a sexy floral note and a spicy suggestion of cracked pepper. Rich and broad but surprisingly energetic as well, showing powerful thrust to the concentrated black and blue fruit, spicecake, olive and cola flavors. Very smooth and round, revealing no rough edges that I can detect. Finishes very long and sweet, with a whiplash of blue fruit and slow-building, well-knit tannins that add framework.

100% Syrah. 100% whole bunch with constant, automatic remontage in tank. Stemmy, sappy notes on the palate giving dried herbs and iodine. Instantly more complex than the La Mouline and La Turque but this won't please those who don't like stemmy wines. Yet the complexity and purity is very impressive. Lovely juniper and lavender notes to finish. The best of the three La Las, for me. (RH)