2003 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

The 2003 Cote Rotie la Landonne continues to blow me away every time I taste it and it's a desert island wine for me. One of the stars of this extreme vintage, it offers sensational levels of fruit and decadence, perfumed, intense aromatics, beautiful freshness and a to-die-for texture and finish. Still youthful, with masses of sweet tannin, it's nevertheless a a heavenly drink today.

Ruby-red. Powerful, brooding blackberry and creme de cassis aromas are further deepened by suggestions of dark chocolate, espresso and tar. Huge, mouthfilling and sweet, with an amazingly dense texture and superconcentrated kirsch and blackcurrant flavors complemented by baking spices and smoked meat. The impressively long finish shows great depth and powerful tannic spine. Hands off this monster for a long, long time.

CS (will be bottled feb 07) Extraordinarily deep colour. Very intense, deep and leathery. Savoury, very Syrah. Very deep and rich start with very dry savoury finish. Good combination: the severity of Landonne and the ripeness of '03. All three single vineyard wines very consistent styles through the two vintages. Keep this for ages. (JR)