Côte Rôtie La Mouline 2002 75cl

An amazing effort for the vintage, with black cherry compote and hoisin sauce notes layered with mineral, black tea, vanilla bean and dark cocoa. Long, supersilky finish is carried by fine-grained tannins.

The 2002 Cote Rotie la Mouline is an elegant, perfumed and complex effort that gives up good richness and depth to go with classic aromas and flavors of smoked meats, dried flowers, incense and mature Syrah fruit. Incorporating only 5% Viognier due to botrytis (and capitalized), it nevertheless saw the standard four years in barrel prior to bottling. While 2002 was one of the most difficult vintages in recent memory, the quality here is a testament to this estate, and it’s a beautiful drink that should be consumed sooner rather than later. One of the reference point estates for top quality wines in the world today, the family run Guigal operation was created in 1946 by Etienne Guigal. Today, Etienne’s son, Marcel, and his son Philippe, are firmly in control here, and are without a doubt producing some of the most singular, sought after wines in the world. Due to the size of this tasting, I’ll keep my comments short, but the incredible quality coming from this operation is astounding, and a tasting here is always one of the highlights of any trip through the region. Furthermore, while a lot is said about the extended oak aging regime here, I don’t know anyone who tastes mature examples of these wines on a regular basis that still has any doubts about the genius going on here. In short, these single vineyard (and their blends as well) Cote Roties are some of the greatest wines money can buy. For this tasting (which, with the Guigals, is always a large one!), we focused on their Saint Joseph Vignes des Hospice release, and then three of their Cote Roties, starting with the classic Brune et Blonde, then the Chateau d’Ampuis, and finishing with their single vineyard La Mouline