2005 E. Guigal, Cote Rotie, La Turque

The 2005 Cote Rotie la Turque is utterly profound, and a desert island wine if there ever was one. Crème de cassis, blackcurrants, chocolate, barbecued meats and bacon fat all literally soar from the glass of this full-bodied, structured, perfectly balanced Cote Rotie that doesn’t have a hair out of place. It’s just now at the early stages of drinkability and will benefit from 2-4 more years in the cellar, and keep for 2-3 decades after that.

Once again the 2005 Cote Rotie La Turque is a mesmerizing wine. Its extraordinary perfume of camphor, black truffles, bacon fat, spring flowers, blackberries, and cherries is followed by a dense, full-bodied, pure, multilayered wine of superb balance and impeccable harmony. This profound, amazing 2005 should be forgotten for 4-5 years, and drunk over the next three decades.

Very solid colour. Lots going on underneath. Very, very long. So solid! More acid than the other La Las. Masses of concentration and really dry – never mind a wife or mistress, this one is not even a friend at the moment. SO drying. I assume it will get there in the end, but stash it away! Very firm and for the very long term. (JR)