E. Guigal's La-Las, Side by Side …
13 Côte-Rôties, 4 Courses, Five Perfect Scores
Three wines. Three hillsides. Forty years of argument about which one is greatest.
From the 2022 vintage, Guigal has made it four. La Reynarde comes off 1.5 hectares in the Fongeant lieu-dit, just above the Côte Brune, whole-bunch fermented with punch-downs alone and four years in new barrels. It is the first addition to the La-La family in forty years, and we are opening it against La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne from the same vintage.
Then we go backwards. 2021, the cool and classical year. 2020, where Jeb Dunnuck gave both La Mouline and La Landonne 100 points. And 2019, where he gave all three of them 100 points.
Thirteen Côte-Rôties across four courses, tasted the only way these wines truly reveal themselves: side by side, vintage against vintage, hill against hill.
Sunday, September 13th
Hosted by Brett Crittenden
Lunch: 12–3pm | 13 wines and 4 courses | $995
One Family, Three Hillsides
Etienne Guigal arrived in Ampuis in 1923 and founded the house in 1946. His son Marcel took over in 1961 at the age of nineteen, after his father lost his sight, and spent the next sixty years turning a small negociant business into the reference point for the northern Rhône. La Mouline came first, in 1966, from the Côte Blonde. La Landonne followed in 1978, from the steeper, darker, iron-rich Côte Brune. La Turque arrived in 1985, from a parcel that had lain abandoned since the war until Guigal replanted it.
The method has barely changed since. Each wine comes from a single hillside, is aged for forty-two months in one hundred percent new French oak, and is bottled without fining or filtration. The three could not be more different from one another. La Mouline is the perfumed one, eleven percent Viognier co-fermented with the Syrah, all violets and silk. La Landonne is one hundred percent Syrah, black and structural and built for decades. La Turque sits between them, and in the right year it is the most complete of the three.
La Reynarde is the first new name in forty years. Whole bunches, punch-downs only, the same four years in new oak. Jeb Dunnuck called it "a brilliant, structured, age-worthy Côte Rôtie in the making" and said it clearly earns its place in the lineup. Nicolas Greinacher of Vinous simply noted that the family is now called "the La-La-La-La".
"Black fruits, smoke, graphite, crushed stone, and bloody nuances all emerge from the 2020 Côte Rôtie La Landonne, a magical, flawless Côte Rôtie that will need serious cellaring. Hide bottles for a decade, after which it will have 50 years of longevity."
100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
Meet your host… Brett Crittenden
- Australia’s most accomplished internationally based wine person
Brett Crittenden is an Australian, who after honing his wine skills as a purchaser of the world’s great wines for his family’s legendary group of Melbourne Wine Stores, went on to become Australia’s most accomplished international wine dealer. In this role he has lived and worked in Australia, Argentina, Russia, France and the UK.
He has been judging at a senior level in each of the world’s largest and most respected international wine competitions for more than 40 years – amongst many other similar roles around the world.
He regularly chairs panels at each of the IWSC and the Decanter World Wine Awards in London and at the world class IWC and at the Syrah du Monde competitions - also in Europe. These include the planet’s largest and most respected international wine shows and involve between 200 and 350 judges and up to 20,000 wine entrants each.
When younger, Brett spent 12 years with LVMH (Moet Hennessy) in their sparkling wine and Champagne operations, initially in Australia and then internationally. With these experiences, he then played the pivotal role in the decade long task of the re-establishment of Russia’s by then discredited and collapsed links to the world’s fine wine trade.
Brett consulted to that country’s largest wine and spirits importer and successfully rebuilt the nation’s international wine relationships - with their associated valuable allocations - with many of the most sought-after and finest international wine labels. To ensure the successful development of that company and their Russian wine sales, Brett also put in place a long-term staff and trade training facility by establishing a much needed sommelier school.
These days Brett works independently with many of the great global wine estates - including Domaine Guigal in the Rhone Valley – as well as in the rest of France, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Italy. He spends a significant proportion of each year globe-trotting to advise and service clients - and to open further doors - and is the link between these wineries and their distributors around the word.
During his time in Australia, Brett was a senior judge for more than 10 years at many senior Australian wine competitions - including the prestigious Royal Melbourne Wine Show. He Chaired the Victorian Wine Awards tasting panel. In 2013 he was the invited International Guest Judge at the serious and innovative Sydney International Wine Competition.
He has actively worked alongside his peers as Chairman of the Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association, was a founding board member of the Victorian Wine Industry Association and a Board member and founding committee member of the Victorian Food and Wine festival, today one of the biggest of its kind in this country.
Brett has been President of the Wine and Food Society of Victoria and the secretary and a committee member of the Viticultural Society of Victoria. Brett is also member of Member Order de Coteaux de Champagne, the Les Echevins de Bouzy and the Commanderie de Bordeaux.
The Wine List
First Course: the 2022s, and the first La Reynarde ever poured
2022 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Mouline’
97-100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Black raspberries, wildflowers, and bacon fat emerge from the 2022 Côte Rôtie La Mouline, which has an exotic yet dark, rich, and powerful profile. Based on 89% Syrah and 11% Viognier and aged 42 months in new oak, it has plenty of mid-palate depth, full-bodied richness, and ripe tannins, all while maintaining classic La Mouline character and sexiness.”
2022 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Turque’
96-98 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Darker and more inward, cassis, graphite, crushed stone, and liquid violets define the 2022 Côte Rôtie La Turque, and it picks up more gamey, smoky, black olive notes with air. Made from 93% Syrah and 7% Viognier and aged 42 months in new oak, it shows a more structured, focused profile than La Mouline, with full-bodied richness, impressive concentration, and a great finish.”
2022 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Landonne’
97-100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Another level of complexity emerges from the 2022 Côte Rôtie La Landonne, offering blackberries, currants, wood smoke, cured meats, and leather-like nuances. This powerful, concentrated, straight-up massive Côte Rôtie was aged 42 months in new oak and shows classic La Landonne character, with beautiful depth and richness, as well as building tannins.”
2022 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Reynarde’
96-98 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“The first vintage for this cuvée, the 2022 Côte Rôtie La Reynarde comes from the Fongeant lieu-dit, which sits just above the Côte Brune. It is not destemmed and was vinified using only punch downs, and sees the same 4 years in new barrels as the other single-vintage releases. Loads of blackberries, currants, smoked meats, crushed stone, and graphite characterize the aromatics, with black olive and iron notes emerging with air. It clearly earns its spot in the lineup and is a brilliant, structured, age-worthy Côte Rôtie in the making.”
Second Course: 2021, the year that rewarded restraint
2021 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Mouline’
93-95 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Blackberries, red and blue fruits, crushed flowers, and ground pepper all emerge from the La Mouline, which shows incredible elegance and purity, as well as depth. It delivers medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, silky texture, and beautiful balance. The tannins are polished, and it has a gorgeous finish.”
2021 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Turque’
94-96 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“More concentrated and darker in style, the La Turque reveals blackberries, smoked meats, and graphite, with a meaty, almost La Landonne-like character. A blend of 93% Syrah and 7% Viognier brought up in new French oak for 42 months, it is medium to full-bodied and concentrated, with terrific mid-palate depth and ripe tannins.”
2021 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Landonne’
95-97 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“I suspect the wine of the vintage, the 2021 Côte Rôtie La Landonne delivers blackberries, smoked meats, and graphite in a medium to full-bodied, layered, and ultra-classic style. Made from 100% Syrah and aged 42 months in new French oak, it shows remarkable purity, polished tannins, and a brilliant, smoky character.”
Third Course: 2020, and two perfect scores
2020 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Mouline’
100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Spring flowers, roasted herbs, graphite, chocolate, and scorched earth intermixed with blackberries define the 2020 Côte Rôtie La Mouline. It is full-bodied, rich, and textured, with violets and smoked meats emerging with time in the glass. This concentrated, pure, super-rich, and sexy wine has flawless overall balance, ultra-fine tannins, and sensational length.”
2020 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Turque’
99 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Classic notes of graphite, spring flowers, blackberries, crushed stone, and smoky oak all emerge from the 2020 Côte Rôtie La Turque. It is round and full-bodied, with incredible depth, richness, and purity. With no hard edges and a concentrated, multidimensional mouthfeel, it strikes a good balance between the upfront, sexy showoff that is the La Mouline and the more reserved, structured La Landonne.”
2020 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Landonne’
100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Black fruits, smoke, graphite, crushed stone, and bloody nuances all emerge from the 2020 Côte Rôtie La Landonne, a magical, flawless Côte Rôtie that will need serious cellaring. Made from 100% Syrah and aged 42 months in new French oak, it is full-bodied and concentrated on the palate, with building tannins and incredible structure. Hide bottles for a decade, after which it will have 50 years of longevity.”
Fourth Course: 2019, and three more
2019 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Mouline’
100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Leading off the three single parcel releases, the 2019 Côte Rôtie La Mouline is an absolute blockbuster of a wine that has incredible depth, richness, and concentration while holding onto a rare sense of elegance, balance, and seamlessness. Incredible floral and orange blossom notes give way to more smoked game, tapenade, sweet black raspberries, and subtle vanilla. This full-bodied, utterly heavenly Côte Rôtie is more reserved and straight compared to the 2018, but it nevertheless already offers a huge amount of pleasure.”
2019 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Turque’
100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“The 2019 Côte Rôtie La Turque reminds me slightly of the 2010, which at a recent tasting I thought was the greatest young wine I had ever tasted. The 2019 reveals a saturated purple hue as well as insane aromatics of bloody blue and red fruits, roasted meats, iron, ground pepper, and graphite, with perfectly integrated background oak. With full-bodied richness as well as a deep, layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, it has building tannins, flawless balance, and a finish that will not quit. This is an absolutely legendary Côte Rôtie in the making.”
2019 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie ‘La Landonne’
100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com
“Lastly, the 2019 Côte Rôtie La Landonne is an absolutely jaw-dropping wine, and it does not, and will not, get any better than this magical elixir. A massive bouquet of black fruits, bloody meats, ground pepper, scorched earth, iron, and truffle all emerge from this dense, powerful monster of a Côte Rôtie that is flawlessly balanced, has perfect tannins, and sensational levels of concentration and extract. It should hit prime time in around a decade and evolve for 40-50 years.”