E. Guigal, Cote Rotie, La Mouline 2011

The 2011 Côte Rôtie La Mouline is still youthful yet has the vintage’s upfront appeal, and it certainly offers loads of pleasure today. Its youthful ruby hue is followed by a full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, opulent and ethereally styled Côte Rôtie with awesome notes of black raspberries, kirsch, cured meats, exotic spice, Acacia flowers, and just hints of subtle classy oak. Medium to full-bodied, seamless, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, it needs an hour in a decanter if drinking any time soon and has another 20+ years of prime drinking. The 2011 vintage gets overlooked, as it followed 2009 and 2010, but it’s a beautiful vintage with loads to love. In addition, the wines are upfront, complex, and already approachable.

(aged in new oak barriques for 42 months): Deep ruby. Sexy mineral- and spice-laced black raspberry, cherry compote and floral pastille aromas are complemented by notes of Asian spices, cola and smoky oak. Spicy and precise on the palate, offering vibrant, spice-accented red and dark berry and cola flavors and an undercurrent of smoky minerality. Fine-grained tannins sneak in very slowly and meld seamlessly with the energetic fruit. Clings with fantastic tenacity and focus, leaving behind vibrant spice, berry liqueur and mineral notes.”