Inky ruby. A heady, powerfully scented bouquet evokes cassis, blueberry, licorice and mocha, with a smoky nuance building with air. Silky and seamless on the palate, offering deep dark fruit liqueur flavors sharpened by gentle acidity and a peppery note. Clings with impressive tenacity on the spice- and mineral-tinged finish, leaving a sweet floral pastille note behind. Decidedly rich for this bottling, but that's the vintage.

Quality 963 | Brand 958 | Economics 898 | buzz brand
Quality: Predicted life of 12 years, one of the longest drinking windows in its peer group, which averages 8 years Brand: Strong restaurant presence, featuring on 26 of the world's top wine lists, including The Modern Economics: Above its peer group average price of £91 for the 2009 vintage Production: Higher yields than its peer group average of 36 hl/ha

- www.wine-lister.com June 2017

Served blind alongside a Rostaing Côte Blonde. Very sweet and rich (from a ripe year). Opulence leading the way to a dry, Syrah-ish long finish with more structure than the Rostaing. Rather glorious. (JR)

Utterly perfect in every sense, the 2009 Côte Rôtie la Mouline is a huge, opulent, incredibly sexy wine that literally causes my heart rate to jump 10 beats or more. Smoked meats, wild flowers, peach pit, smoke and layers of huge Syrah fruit give way to a full-bodied, concentrated, heavenly red that has a dense, thick mid-palate, sweet tannin, and a blockbuster finish. If I had to pick a desert Island wine, this would be it!

Just as good, but made in a completely different style, the 2009 Cote Rotie la Mouline (which incorporates a whopping 11% of Viognier) offers an insane bouquet of roasted meats, toast, spice, caramelized meats, coffee bean and deep, concentrated and layered blackberry and cassis-styled fruit. As with the 2010, it has off-the-chart richness, a stacked mid-palate and a gorgeous polish to its tannin. Give it another 3 to 4 years and drink it over the following 2-3 decades.

Wine Advocate December, 2013

Leading off the single vineyard releases, the 2009 Cote Rotie La Mouline is incredible on all accounts. A blend of 89% Syrah and 11% Viognier that spent 40 months in new French oak, it offers an unbelievable perfume of black fruits, smoked meats, violets, espresso and smoked earth to go with a full-bodied, supremely concentrated and extroverted profile on the palate. Despite the overall size here, this singular beauty never puts a foot wrong, has vivid freshness and a seamless, silky texture. A bucket list wine, it should be given a handful of years in the cellar and enjoyed over the following two decades.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 27/12/2012

The 2009 Cote Rotie La Mouline possesses off-the-charts richness. Like all the vintages, it comes from the Cote Blonde and is co-fermented with 11% Viognier. Its 13.5% alcohol is one of the highest in all the La Moulines made to date, which shows you that these wines are never that powerful. Extraordinary layers of concentration offer up notes of roasted coffee, sweet black cherries, black raspberries, blackberries, licorice and hints of spring flowers as well as lychee nuts (no doubt attributable to the floral/honeysuckle character of Viognier). With its full-bodied, extravagant richness, the 2009 La Mouline should be relatively approachable in 1-2 years, and last for two decades or more. (100)