Taking a Second Look
2000 Guigal Côte-Rôtie
La Landonne & La Mouline
Côte Rôtie's Blue-Chip Collectibles
Perfect Provenance - OWC
Guigal's trio of La La's have taken the steep slopes of Côte Rôtie and gotten them on the wish lists of serious collectors.
These wines work on a scale that's simply monumental; in terms of power and layered complexity, they are without peers.
In the grand vintages, prices go simply bonkers, ballistic, stratospheric - pick your adjective... $300 is sort of the starting line and the older gems can easily run up to and beyond the $1,000 mark.
If these wines are the icons of Syrah, the masters of the Northern Rhône-Universe, there is much to be said for the less glamorous vintages that slide under the radar.
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It's easy to speak of the value here (and there is value here, in spades), but it makes more sense, to us at least, to speak of the wines themselves.
The so-called "lesser vintages" tend to offer a rendition of these wines that is more humbly (more humanely?) scaled. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Anyone who has had the 94 or 96 or even the wash-out 2002s can attest to the seriousness of these wines.
Guigal is a master and these are the flag-ship bottlings. They just don't let an average wine emerge from the estate with these labels, it's almost that simple.
Today, we put all this on stage, the value, the wines, with a perfect parcel of 2000 La Landonne and La Mouline... perfectly stored, still OWC and very sharply priced.
The 2000 vintage in the Northern Rhone rewarded the best terroirs and the most conscientious winemakers. If left unchecked, the vintage had the potential to produce high yields and fruity, supple wines. In Guigal's hands and in their great sites, the vintage produced wines that are packed with concentration with a symphony of layered fruits, flowers and earth.
The difference between the two sites can be summed up as follows: La Mouline, which is from the Côte Blonde and spiked with 11% Viognier, is silken and red fruited. La Landonne is in the Côte Brune, and the wine tends toward more of a dark, brooding nature.
Regardless of their stylistic differences, both show Syrah at its most intricate and with colossal proportions. The grape rarely achieves the sort of complexity and breeding that is on display here.
As you'd imagine, this is a small parcel... Please give us your maximum order and we’ll allocate as fairly as possible.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare Wine
Crush Wine & Spirits
Parker: "The 2000 Cote Rotie La Mouline includes 11% Viognier in the final blend. Its deep ruby color is accompanied by sweet aromas of lychee nuts, peaches, black currants, and cherries. Abundant amounts of sweet oak must still be resolved, so 3-4 years of cellaring is suggested. Although somewhat superficial, it is a perfumed, seductive, sensual 2000 to drink between 2007-2019."
Parker: "The 2000 Cote Rotie La Landonne is the most powerful and primordial of the 2000 La La’s, not surprising given this cuvee’s telltale earthy, leathery characteristics that are intermixed with notes of truffles, licorice, blackberries, and pepper. Medium to full-bodied, with moderate tannin and good density, it should hit its prime in 2-3 years, and last for 14-15."