E. Guigal, Cote Rotie, La Landonne 2014

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.