2010 - Present Wine

Winemaker Description

Rescuing and resistant, Queen Isabella has ensured since the attack of phylloxera, in the 19th century, the continuation of vineyards and wine on the islands until the present day. For many...it's not part of the customs.

This "Isabella" the Forbidden, highlights the history of the last 200 years, in an elegant, aromatic, authentic and...simple wine, like all that is good!

A fresh, elegant, spicy and saline red like few others. Ideal partner for grilled and seasoned red meat dishes. Signature of the winemaker António Maçanita.

An Isabella Forbidden and super appetizing.... Another great wine from the Azores Wine Company! 

Winemaker Description 

The 2022 Machete relaxes in the glass with an opaque, inky garnet core and a neon violet rim; be careful, it stains. Aromatically, the wine opens with powerful notes of bright black plum, slate, cacao, wild sage and crushed gravel. The transition to the palate screams with its brawny presence of brooding blackberry pie and ripe blue fruits yet tempered with hints of orange peel and Amarena cherry. Chewy tannins, typical of Petite Sirah, soften over time and culminate in a lengthy finish with a note of sweet oak.

BLEND Petite Sirah, Syrah and Grenache

MATURATION Aged for 12 months in French Oak, 36% New

Expert Reviews — Vintage 2018

About the Producer

The Ronchi di Cialla winery sits within its own valley like something out of a fairy tale — roads curving through rows of vines planted between outcroppings of forest, with the family home and cellar perched at the top of a hill overlooking vineyards in all directions. Ivan Rapuzzi runs the winery with his mother and brother, following the same traditional methods as their father before them.

The Rapuzzi family saved Schioppettino from extinction, building a library of wines spanning decades that proves just how magnificently this variety matures. Today, Schioppettino has its own subzone within Friuli Colli Orientali — Schioppettino di Prepotto — while Ronchi di Cialla enjoys its own unique terroir within the Cialla Valley.

• Producer: Ronchi di Cialla
• Appellation: Colli Orientali del Friuli, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
• Varietal: Schioppettino
• Vintage: 2018
• Format: 750ml
• Style: Full-bodied, floral, spiced red
• Tasting Notes: Rose petals, violets, blackberry, blood orange, white pepper
• Aging Potential: Excellent — cellar worthy
• Pairings: Braised meats, game, aged cheeses, mushroom dishes

Winemaker Notes

Our 2019 Research Bianco is a skin-fermented white wine blend in which the proportions and varieties change with each vintage. A good friend supplied the grapes from a "research" vineyard on the East End. All the grapes were grown together (a field blend), hand-picked, de-stemmed, crushed by foot and punched down by hand.

Winemaker Description

Blaufränkisch, also known as Lemberger, is a beautiful varietal full of fruit and spice! 

There's a reason this vineyards been winning awards. On the nose I get cassis with some rubber and a definite minerality. Some herbal notes are hiding in the background. The palate brings forth licorice and black raspberry with those currants. There's a slight jammy quality with great acid and some beautifully lingering tannins. It's deliciously drinkable for a cold winter night but light enough in body to sip all year round. Pair with barbecue ribs or a wiener schnitzel. Winemaker Description.

Winemaker Description

Calcareous limestone with sand. No herbicides (only manual) and they only use a minimal amount of copper and sulfur in the vineyard - aiming towards as minimal an environmental impact as possible. Fermented with skins for three weeks with remontage.  Aged in Slavonian botti of 10-20HL for 18 months followed by time in the bottle before release. No clarification or filtering before bottling. 

Expert Review

Wine Advocate 94 Points | Compared to the Rio Sordo, the Cascina delle Rose 2018 Barbaresco Tre Stelle is slightly more robust and open-knit. This wine shows a more overt concentration that comes across with blackberry and wild cherry. To the palate, it shows a smooth but nicely elaborate texture. There are light touches of crushed stone and even some tobacco on the close. 

Expert Reviews 

Jeb Dunnuck 90 Points | Lastly, this estate fashioned a solid 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mohrhardt Ridge Vineyard, which comes from the Fort Ross-Seaview appellation, and you don’t see many Bordeaux varieties from this region. This inky-hued beauty offers lots of cassis and blueberry fruit as well as sappy green herbs, tobacco, and subtle cedar-like aromas and flavors. It’s medium-bodied and has ripe, building tannins, good overall balance, and a solid finish. It will benefit from another year or three of bottle age and should drink nicely for a solid decade. (2018). 

James Suckling 93 Points | Aromas of plump red and black fruit. Full-bodied with structured tannins and rich, opulent dark fruit. Chocolate and spice on the palate. Smoke and ash at the finish. Very tasty. Drink now or hold. (2018). 

Vinous 94 Points | The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Mohrhardt Ridge Vineyard is another super-distinctive wine in this range. A Cabernet of tremendous character and nuance, the Mohrhardt speaks with distinction. Rich, red berry fruit, rose petal, mint, spice and cedar infuse the Cabernet with striking inner sweetness and perfume. The 2019 feels unctuous and luxurious in the glass, and yet it has plenty of mountain savoriness. The Cabernet has so much sheer personality.  -- Antonio Galloni  (2018). 

Our Professional Review

Rand Sieger of 67Wine.com | Deep ruby color. Earthy crushed raspberry and pencil shaving aromas follow through on a soft, satiny entry to a dry-yet-fruity medium body with a delicate touch of spice and crabapple. Finishes in lingering spiced poached apple, mineral, and wet cedar fade with lightly pithy tannins.

Winemaker Description

Zippy raspberries lead the palate, minerality becomes present after. It finishes with smooth tannins that coat your tongue so softly you barely notice them. Light to medium bodied.

Nose of black fruit and spices and wood. Little tannin, light-med delicate body, lots of cheery and raspberry and finishes spicy and woody with a bit of acid that matches perfectly with the fatty carnitas.

Memo Food Pairing Suggestion

Food Pairings

• Casual: Ideal for picnics, pizza nights, or a hearty tuna salad.

  • Main Course: Pairs beautifully with roasted vegetables, mushroom-based dishes, or grilled poultry.

  • Specialty: Since it's from Austria, it is a classic match for Wiener Schnitzel or mild German sausages.

   

Winemaker Description

This wine is intense ruby red in colour with youthful highlights. On the nose, there are notes of almonds, violets and oranges which are intertwined with aromas of coffee and vanilla. It is a full-bodied wine with well-balanced acidity.

The rounded tannins from the Sangiovese are lifted by the cassis concentration of the Cabernet on the long, concentrated finish. 

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2017 

James Suckling 93 Points |  Blueberries and blackcurrants with bark and licorice. Full body and round, chewy tannins. This is very fresh and bright with some sage and stone character. From organically grown grapes. Needs time to soften. Drink after 2023.

Vinous 92 Points | The 2017 Ghiaie della Furba opens to a bouquet of minty herbs, camphor and smoke before deepening further to display dusty red currant and spice box. This is velvety and fleshy in feel, with stimulating acidity that enlivens its spicy black fruit and building mineral tones. It tapers off with persistence, power and grippy tannin, the perfect mix for a long evolution. The Ghiaie della Furba is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Syrah and 20% Merlot that refines in barrique, half new and half second pass. It's important to note that production was down by 40% in 2017 due to trost.

Winemaker Description

Francesco Rinaldi’s estate was first founded back in 1870, when he inherited a plot of land and vineyard house in the heart of Barolo. Though Francesco’s family wasn’t new to the winemaking game-- his cousin, Giuseppe RInaldi, was also producing great Piemontese reds that were completely shaking up the scene. Today, F. Rinaldi wines are produced only from organic fruit and are some of the best deals coming out of the region’s top growing sites.

Expert Review - Vintage 2016

Wine Advocate 97 Points | The Francesco Rinaldi & Figli 2016 Barolo Riserva Cannubi is a classic beauty with thin, delicate lines that frame a core of profound and very elegant fruit. You can attribute many descriptors to the bouquet, from wild berry, pressed rose, earth, rust, crushed rock and light spice. But no one aroma out-powers the next, and together they work in careful harmony. It's also important to point out the quality of the tannins in this Riserva, which remain elegant and firm. This bottle is a great candidate for long cellar aging. 97+ (ML) (8/2022).

Expert Review

Burghound 93 Points | Ultra-spicy red and black berry aromas combine with those of jasmine tea, violet, star anise and discreet oak. The succulent, rich and delicious flavors possess excellent volume and mid-palate density while exhibiting a subtle minerality on the firm, serious and built-to-age finale that also flashes a touch of warmth. This is terrific and in 2019 it is a bit more elegant than usual. 

This juicy and aromatic Pinot Noir is loaded with flavors of red fruit, meaty cherries, tree bark, and sweet baking spice.

Expert Review

Decanter 94 Points | Starts soft and gentle, then the sparkling, bright acidity spreads over the palate. Great purity, balance and roundness; very satisfying. A mix of 60-year-old and seven-year-old vines, vinified in oak. Drinking Window 2022 - 2030. 

Expert Review

James Suckling 95 Points | This has a rather reserved nose with dried-herb, rosehip, potpourri and light cedary aromas, ahead of fragrant dried cherries. The palate has quite dense and smoothly rendered, ripe tannins that deliver a long, composed and approachable Barolo. Drink or hold. 

Winemaker Description 

It could be said that Elisabetta Foradori has single-handedly brought the intriguing Teroldego grape back from the brink. She is also one of the key figureheads of Biodynamic production in the Trentino. She is someone deeply attached to her native land and vineyards. 'My memories are here. I’ve known in my mind ever since I was a small girl that the only place I felt well was in nature, maybe because I was born and raised among vineyards.' Today she resides over a beautiful estate of some 26 hectares and produces 160 000 bottles of superb biodynamic wine from various local varieties but her signature wine is Teroldego. 

There are two distinct levels of quality that Elisabetta Foradori has aimed at producing from Teroldego: the first is the ‘Foradori’, marked by the purity, dignity and intensity of the fruit. Soft yet penetrating its sweetness is backed by a supporting acidity that weaves elegantly amongst the fruit. The second, called ‘Granato’ (click through the related products below!) is a wine of greater strength, harmony, depth and nobility. Deep, almost shy on the first nose, it reveals itself as the aromas come into focus: wild berries and candied fruit make way for roasted hazelnuts, baked bread, leather, eucalyptus and pomegranate, then the full robust palate shows plenty of temptingly chewy flesh. Elisabetta shows how this wine can be truly great and exemplifies the true taste of the mountains.

100% Teroldego, from old vines from a 4 hectare vineyard, Campo Rotaliano in Trentino. Aromas of wild berry fruit, leather, forest floor and pomegranate mingle on the nose while the palate is full and robust. A long, evolving finish rounds things off. A fatastic northern Italian red which is in equal parts intriguing and beguiling.

Vinous Media - 94 Points: "Dark as night, the 2021 Teroldego Granato smolders up from the glass with an array of crushed ashen stones and earth tones giving way to black raspberries, mentholated herbs and exotic spice. Silky smooth yet full of zesty tension, this sweeps across the palate with tart wild berry fruits and sour citrus tones propelled by vibrant acidity. The 2021 leaves the senses drenched in primary concentration with a tart blackberry crunch, seeds and all, and edgy tannins that grumble on. This especially intense and tightly knit Granato will pay dividends in the cellar."

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2020 

Wine Advocate 95 Points | The 2020 Clos de la Roche Grand Cru is no less impressive. Exhibiting aromas of plums, red berries and cassis mingled with orange rind, cinnamon, vanilla pod and spices, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit, lively acids and a long, rose-inflected finish.

Barrel Sample: 95-97 Burghound 94 Points | This is aromatically similar to the Clos St. Denis but even more floral. Here too there is a wonderfully attractive mouthfeel on the powerful, muscular and dense broad-shouldered flavors that are also blessed with an abundance of dry extract that buffers the massively persistent finale. This terrific effort is a blend of power and refinement and a wine that should age accordingly. A "wow" wine and on the better wines of the vintage.

Barrel Sample: 94-97Decanter 97 Points | Complex and aromatically nuanced, showing well-developed plummy fruit, with accents of earth, leather, smoke and spice. The initial feel on the palate is tannic and concentrated, but the wine is still approachable and supple, with a lovely, long line to the lingering finish. Superb wine. Dujac owns nearly 2ha here, scattered across six parcels and five of the different lieux-dits, including the original Clos de la Roche, Les Froichots, Les Fremières, Monts Luisants and Les Chabiots, giving a balanced view of this grand cru. 

Winemaker Description

The Churchill flagship quinta has produced a serious style of Port. Dry and richly structured, it also has jammy red-berry fruits that will cushion the firmness.

Churchill’s purchased the estate of Quinta da Gricha in 1999, and it quickly formed the spiritual heart of the house, and is where all the wines are made today before being sent downriver for aging in Vila Nova de Gaia. Winemaker Description.

Expert Review

93 Points Wine Enthusiast | The Churchill flagship quinta has produced a serious style of Port. Dry and richly structured, it also has jammy red-berry fruits that will cushion the firmness. Drink the wine from 2029.

Winemaker Description

The 2017 La Tâche Grand Cru soars from the glass with a captivating and beautifully integrated bouquet of exotic spices, rose petals, raspberries, cherries and blood orange mingled with notions of cinnamon and coniferous forest floor. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with a deep and tightly coiled core that marks it out as the most muscular wine in the cellar, displaying considerable concentration and largely concealed structure. While this is a dramatic young La Tâche, there's evidently plenty held in reserve, too, and it simply has appreciably more presence than any of the other wines that preceded it in this tasting. Winemaker Description.

Winemaker Description

This wine’s aroma has it all: plums, incense, tobacco leaf, violets, and exotic spices. Zero racking and extended lees contact has given the 2011 FUTO a satisfying balance of creamy richness and superb freshness. Generous and inviting flavors of black-skinned fruits, cappuccino, citrus and cloves work in harmony with the sweet tannin and well integrated oak. While texturally approachable now, the inner density and complexity of this wine will continue to unfold with cellar age.

Expert Reviews

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 97 Points: The 2011 Proprietary Red Estate is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot and 6% Merlot. It offers sweet blackcurrant and blueberry fruit intermixed with hints of toast and white flowers, beautiful body and a savory personality. A top success for the vintage, it should drink well for 10-12 years.

Winemaker Description

Intense garnet red color. Very classic and traditional with a robust structure and intense tannins. Bouquet takes a little time to show itself with slight hints of yeast. It opens slowly in the glass touch of spice and menthol. In the final, the powerful structure and concentration soften the tannins potential. Pairs well with game, red meats, and cheeses.

Expert Reviews

Wine Advocate 95 Points | The Vietti 2020 Barolo Ravera offers dark fruit cherry and blackcurrant enhanced by soft spice. You also get a sun-kissed note of eggplant tomato leaf and ferrous earth. Ravera displays strong lines with good acidity and firm tannic backbone. It closes dry and ages in large oak botte only. This is one of the most eyeballed MGAs sites. Ravera with its open mountain skyline and cool temperatures is seen as one of the best sites in the appellation especially as the climate changes. This vintage produced exactly 10026 bottles.

Vinous 94 Points | Picked on October 9 and 10 the 2020 Barolo Ravera has plenty of Ravera classicism and tension but also feels a bit light in the mid-palate. Ravera is never a huge wine in body but the depth is often there even if expressed in an understated and more linear manner. The 2020 lacks that depth. Red-toned fruit blood orange mint spice and white pepper lend brilliance throughout.

Expert Review - Vintage 2017

Vinous 93 Points | The 2017 Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, which is as usual, an exchange with Jean-Michel Chartron, has a crisp and precise bouquet with touches of yellow flower and crushed stone complementing the citrus fruit. The palate is very well balanced with beautifully integrated oak (one-year old rather than new), leading to a precise, almost Meursault-like finish. Superb. 

Winemaker Description 

It has a very detailed, slightly flinty, perhaps reserved bouquet that opens reluctantly in the glass. The palate is taut on the entry, hints of white chocolate infusing the citrus fruit, nicely balanced with a harmonious and elegant finish. 

Winemaker Description

An intense red-purple colour. Potent and elegant on the nose with a great complexity of aromas (jams, minerals, menthol, spices, wild herbs, toffee and cacao).

Great harmony in the mouth with very marked sweet tannins, very complex and full of flavours of black fruits, raisins, liquorice, coffee, ink and aromatic herbs. Persistent lingering finish. Excellent wine for aging.

Expert Reviews

Burghound Allen Meadows 95 Points | A subtle touch of wood serves as a suitably discreet backdrop for the exceptionally floral-infused and perfumed nose that offers up additional notes of spice, red currant and pekoe tea. The round, refined and lilting if impressively intense flavors are blessed with excellent punch and power while exhibiting a lovely salinity on the built-to-age finish. This refined effort is very classy, indeed the word Zen comes up mind.

Neal Martin of Vinous 95 Points | The 2016 La Grande Rue Grand Cru has a very pure, almost pastille-like bouquet with copious red cherry fruit mixed with crushed strawberry and a little cassis. La Grande Rue? [Post script: Bingo!] The palate is very pretty with fine-grain tannin. This is surfeit with freshness and vitality, although it does not quite have the depth and structure of other Grand Crus from the appellation. It does fan out towards the finish. The persistence, and the saline aftertaste are very appealing. Excellent. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting.

Jasper Morris 94-97 Points | A little more density to the colour. Impressive intensity of floral notes, even some slightly darker fruit notes for a change. Fine density to this, as discreet as you want up front, but nonetheless more detail than the earlier wines, very silky texture across the middle, not an extra burst of intensity but still a thread of velvet which endures for much longer. Red fruits, not quite the blood orange I have noted in some vintages, and certainly the exquisite elegance that Nicole is searching for. Very classy, is it quite intense enough? The little traces of acidity are entirely woven in, a faint sign of whole bunch in the final texture. Fruit comes back behind. You could miss the point of this or adore it. Tasted: October 2017

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2019

Burghound 92 Points | A much earthier, riper and more deeply pitched nose speaks of black cherry, cassis and humus nuances. There is strikingly good volume and mid-palate concentration to the dense, serious and powerful flavors that conclude in an austere, balanced, very compact and sneaky long finish. This is a big Clos de Vougeot that isn't particularly refined, but it is undeniably impressive.

Decanter 93 Points | In a warm, dry year like 2019, the results are delightful, with bright red fruits and a silky, subtle texture. Lighter than the offerings from Vosne but also very worthy.

Winemaker Description

Black fruits, leathers, licorice, aromas of roasting and oriental spices. Notes of eucalyptus. Very powerful aromatic intensity. A lot of richness and structure on the palate. Very strong expression of the terroir which expresses itself by the elegance and the power of its tannins.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2013 

Wine Spectator 97 Points | This is intense, as dense ganache, espresso, roasted juniper and alder notes form an impressive frame around an equally ornate core of steeped fig, blackberry and black currant fruit flavors, all while maintaining terrific cut and drive despite the heft. A mouthwatering iron accent at the very end seals the deal. Best from 2020 through 2040.

Wine Advocate 97 Points | This was another excellent showing for the 2013 Hermitage Ex Voto and this elegant, medium to full-bodied release offers straight-up textbook notes of crème de cassis, vanilla bean, crushed rocks, graphite and spice. It lacks the mid-palate density of the 2009 and 2010, but is impeccably balanced, elegant, and offers considerable charm. Range:94-97

James Suckling 94 Points | A big, bold dark plum, chocolate and roasted coffee nose with dark stones and a swathe of fragrant baking spices. The palate has a succulent and powerful feel. Dark ripe cherry fruits and toasty oak are well matched. Drink now.

Vinous 94 Points | (aged in new oak for 40 months) Glass-staining ruby. Deep-pitched cassis, cherry liqueur, incense and candied violet scents, along with hints of olive paste and Moroccan spices. Sweet, broad and energetic on the palate, offering alluringly sweet black and blue fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors underscored by an intense mineral quality. Unfolds very slowly with air and finishes impressively long, featuring youthful tannins and outstanding energy.  Drinking 2023 - 2033. -- Josh Raynolds.

Critical Acclaim

• Wine Advocate – 97 Points | “Upfront, incredibly perfumed nose of spring flowers, cured meats, roasted herbs, olives and sweet cassis fruit. Full-bodied, beautifully textured, mouth-filling and already impossible to resist — it expands on the palate and I guarantee this beauty will put a smile on your face anytime over the coming two decades.” Drinking 2016–2036.
• Wine Spectator – 96 Points | “Brooding, with layers of warm tobacco leaf, roasted alder and juniper, and sweet tapenade, backed by a dense core of macerated plum, black currant and raspberry fruit. The long, smoldering finish shows terrific latent grip.” Best from 2018–2030.
• James Suckling – 95 Points | “Super peppery, very concentrated and immaculately fragrant. Entrancing brown-spice aromas across red plums and darker black fruits. Layered, smooth and supple, pitching concentrated flavors against precise, dense and very powerful tannin. Exceptional wine.” Drink 2020–2030.
• Decanter – 95 Points | “Porcini mushroom and a touch of graphite on the finish. The acidity is well balanced, the tannins a little dry and leathery.” Drinking 2021–2033.
• Vinous – 94 Points | “Heady, intensely perfumed aromas of red fruit preserves, incense, smoky minerals and lavender. Stains the palate with sweet, seamless raspberry liquéur, spicecake and floral pastille flavors. Strikingly long and precise finish with resonating mineral and floral notes.” Drinking 2021–2030.

Tasting Notes

Red fruits, blackberry, and floral aromas of violet define the nose of La Mouline. On the palate, the wine is silky, velvety, and voluptuous with intense aromatics, seamless texture, and a finish of extraordinary length and precision. A wine of rare beauty and complexity.

About the Wine

La Mouline is one of Guigal’s legendary “La La” wines — among the most celebrated and collectible bottles in the entire Rhône Valley. Sourced from a single steep vineyard on the Côte Blonde in Côte-Rôtie, La Mouline is predominantly Syrah with a small percentage of Viognier co-fermented, lending its signature floral perfume and silky texture. The wine spends 42 months in new oak before bottling — a hallmark of Guigal’s uncompromising approach to quality.

Food Pairing

Outstanding with game birds, roasted lamb, truffle dishes, and aged hard cheeses. Also exceptional on its own as a contemplative collector’s wine.

Product Details

• Appellation: Côte-Rôtie, Northern Rhône, France
• Varietal: Syrah with Viognier (co-fermented)
• Vintage: 2012
• Format: 750ml
• Drinking Window: Now–2036
• Producer: E. Guigal

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2011 

Wine Spectator 96 Points | Very dense, dark and brooding in feel, with a thick coating of Turkish coffee and bittersweet ganache over the copious blackberry and fig flavors. The long finish is studded with charcoal and smoldering tobacco hints. Patience is required. Best from 2018 through 2030. From France.

Wine Advocate 98 Points | Starting out the single vineyards and bottled in February (after over four years in new oak barrels), the 2011 Cote Rotie la Mouline is as slutty, sexy and seamless as they come. Full-bodied, thrillingly concentrated and unctuous, it offers classic Mouline notes of cured meats, violets, black raspberries, espresso and hints of vanilla bean. Philippe Guigal commented that the worst thing about 2011 was the it came after 2010, and while the previous two vintages will get all of the attention, this 2011 will deliver almost as much pleasure, and do it right from the start as well. It needs 3-4 years of cellaring and will drink sensationally through 2041.

Vinous 96 Points | (aged in new oak barriques for 42 months): Deep ruby. Sexy mineral- and spice-laced black raspberry, cherry compote and floral pastille aromas are complemented by notes of Asian spices, cola and smoky oak. Spicy and precise on the palate, offering vibrant, spice-accented red and dark berry and cola flavors and an undercurrent of smoky minerality. Fine-grained tannins sneak in very slowly and meld seamlessly with the energetic fruit. Clings with fantastic tenacity and focus, leaving behind vibrant spice, berry liqueur and mineral notes.

Expert Review 

Wine Enthusiast 95 Points | This delicately perfumed wine opens to reveal power combined with elegance. The wine has great ripeness—a soft texture on the surface masking the severe tannins at the center.

Winemaker Description 

A fragrant aroma of well ripened fruit; supple and polished tannins give structure and length on the palate, with a rich sweet flavour and crisp mineral freshness. Herbal and dark fruit notes on the aftertaste. Winemaker Description.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2013 

Wine Spectator 98 Points | A thunderhead of dark ganache and espresso notes slowly rolls through, while fig paste, melted licorice, warm plum and blackberry compote flavors follow. A massive beam of graphite drives the finish to a crescendo, with the fruit echoing. 

Wine Advocate 95+ Points | La Landonne is never destemmed and is always the last of the single-vineyard wines to be picked. Philippe Guigal calls it “the most Pauillac of the Cote Roties,” and the 2013 Cote Rotie La Landonne bears that out. It’s slightly austere and firmly tannic, with attractive floral aromas and layers of dark fruit that will require time to fully emerge.

James Suckling 97 Points | The most brooding nose of the trio of La La's with dark coal smoky aromas and dark stones, graphite and cocoa powder. Fruits are in the very dark plum and blackberry spectrum but flavors are held in a more savory mode with assertive, powerful clean-cut tannins that hold endless length. Truly a masterpiece. Best from 2022 and for two decades or more.  

Winemaker Description

Deep ruby red with dark tints. Small red fruit, blackberry, morello cherry Intensely aromatic, powerful and elegant. Supple attack with a balanced supple structure, concentration and elegant tannins. Fully expressive of the terroir. With all the virility of the Cote Brune, La Turque also has all the subtlety and femininity of the Cote Blonde.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2013 

Wine Spectator 98 Points | A stunning, modern-styled version, with scintillating raspberry puree, plum confiture and blackberry reduction flavors gliding over velvety but copious tannins. Alluring warm ganache and fruitcake accents gild the finish, which sails on and on. Best from 2020 through 2045.

Wine Advocate 98 Points | A stunning, modern-styled version, with scintillating raspberry purée, plum confiture and blackberry reduction flavors gliding over velvety but copious tannins. Alluring warm ganache and fruitcake accents gild the finish, which sails on and on. Best from 2020 through 2045.

Decanter 95 Points | Tasted after the spicy, ethereal La Mouline 2013, this is more earthbound - deeper, darker and fruitier, with more bass notes, as you might expect from a wine sourced from 25 year old vines on schist soils with limestone and clay (versus the gneiss of La Mouline). It too spent 42 months in new oak barrels. This has a pretty, cedar-flecked red berry fruit nose, tightly swaddled in oak. Full-bodied and mouth-coating, it shows great purity and salinity on the palate - it is fresh, piercing and powerful, but balanced and light on its feet, with deep veins of oak spice running through it. Drinkable and fresh.  Drinking Window 2018 - 2035 — Tasted by Matt Walls(at E.Guigal portfolio tasting, London, 12 Jun 2017)

Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points | A step up over the La Mouline, the 2013 Côte Rôtie La Turque is concentrated, full-bodied, and structured, with lots of minerality, chocolate, and pepper nuances in its darker berry fruits, cassis and bacon fat aromas and flavors. With a great mid-palate, building tannin, and the more tight, austere style of the vintage, give bottles another 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades.  Drinking 2022 - 2042

James Suckling 96 Points | An air of deep-set complexity. Plenty of baking spices and toastiness with blackberry, pepper, wet stones and concrete. Extremely complex and fragrant. The palate delivers a supple, plush and luxuriant texture with masses of sweet spices and succulent blackberry fruit. Dark chocolate finish that's elegant and concentrated. Drink now and for two decades at least.

Vinous 95 Points | (made with 50 percent whole clusters) Inky ruby. Bright, intensely perfumed aromas of red and blue fruits, Indian spices and potpourri are energized by a smoky mineral quality. Juicy, focused and pure, displaying deeply concentrated but lively boysenberry and cherry liqueur flavors, along with hints of candied flowers and five-spice powder. Echoes the floral and spicy notes on the strikingly long, penetrating finish, which features harmonious tannins and a hint of bitter chocolate.  Drinking 2023 - 2032 

Winemaker Description

Red black with deep dark tints. Small black fruits, liquorice and roasted notes and oriental spices. Powerful and intense aromas. Powerful attack with important tannic structure. Rich and concentrated. Fully expressive of the terroir. Great ageing potential, structured and concentrated with a rare intensity of flavour and colour.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2012 

Wine Spectator 92 Points | Intense, with a serious iron spine that drives from start to finish, while the core of dark currant, bitter plum and black cherry fruit is held in reserve. The grippy and mineral-driven finish sports loads of tobacco, warm iron and dark earth notes, while displaying terrific cut and drive. A formidable wine. Best from 2020 through 2040. 1,000 cases made.

Winemaker Description

La Landonne displays red/black color with deep dark tints with aromas of black fruits, licorice and roasted notes and oriental spices. Powerful and intense aromas. Powerful attack with important tannic structure. Rich and concentrated. Fully expressive of the terroir. Great ageing potential, structured and concentrated with a rare intensity of flavor and color.

Côte-Rôtie La Landonne completes this famous trilogy. An immense and pure wine with intense flavours and deep colour, this is the perfect wine for ageing.

The treasures are born in the very heart of the most legendary of the illustrious plots of the Maison Guigal. These precious bottles are as coveted as they are rare and have benefited from extreme care at every stage of the process, from the vine to the cellars. They are the sole incarnation of the inspiration and inheritance of centuries of viticulture in an exceptional terroir.

Expert Reviews- Vintage 2011 

Wine Spectator 98 Points | This delivers wave after wave of sensational raspberry pâte de fruit, plum reduction and boysenberry coulis flavors, backed by mouthwatering anise and blackberry cobbler hints. A massive bolt of iron and charcoal is deeply embedded in the fruit and lurks through the long, authoritative finish, keeping all the elements riveted together. Best from 2018 through 2030. 600 cases made. — JM.

Wine Advocate 99 Points | A step up over the other two single vineyard releases, the 2011 Cote Rotie la Landonne is an incredible wine that knocks it out of the park in the vintage. Its inky purple/ruby color is followed by to-die-for notes of cassis, black olives, truffles, graphite and crushed rock. Full-bodied, massively concentrated, thick and unctuous, it has the vintage’s flamboyant fruit profile, yet backs it up with a stacked mid-palate, serious amounts of tannin and a finish that just won’t quite. It’s relatively approachable now due to its glycerin and fat, yet needs a decade of cellaring and will knock your socks off over the following two decades or more. 

Vinous 95 Points | (raised in new oak for 42 months): Glass-staining ruby. Powerful, expansive aromas of black and blue fruit liqueur, smoky Indian spices, sandalwood and olive, and an exotic floral nuance that gains strength with air. Deeply concentrated but surprisingly lively, offering palate-staining dark fruit and violet pastille flavors and a strong, building spicy quality. Velvety tannins add grip to a strikingly long, sappy and penetrating finish, which clings with noteworthy tenacity. Drinking 2020 - 2030. -- Josh Raynolds

Winemaker Description

Our 2011 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is an elegant representation of Napa Valley Cabernet from a cool vintage. It presents an opaque garnet hue in the glass and reveals aromas of sandalwood and roasted meats.

Flavors of vanilla, coffee beans and raspberries are buttressed by dusty tannins, firm acidity and a mouth-coating texture. Given proper cellaring, this wine should provide drinking pleasure through 2029.

Winemaker Description

The 2018 Blank has a beautifully layered dark nose of black cherry, aromatic black tea, blackberry bramble, rose oil, black licorice, and violet candies. The silky entry opens to flavors of black fruit, culinary bay, and bakers’ chocolate seamlessly underpinned by velvety tannins and lovely texture through to the finish. This wine will age effortlessly for at least 20+ years. 

Expert Reviews

Jeb Dunnuck 95 points | I was able to taste two wines from Grace Family both made by the incredibly talented Helen Keplinger who has been at this estate since 2014. The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Blank offers a beautifully pure elegant style in its darker currant and blueberry fruits as well as notes of iron minty herbs tobacco and lead pencil. Soft supple medium to full-bodied and as seamless as they come drink this singular beauty any time over the coming 20 years. I love its mid-palate as well as its tannins.

James Suckling 98 points | So much graphite and dark fruit here with some iron and spice. Lead pencil, roses and light mint, too. Full-bodied and wonderfully seamless with dusty tannins and a lightly balsamic finish. Drinkable now, but better after 2025. 

Wine Spectator 93 | A nice burst of mulberry and loganberry fruit leads the way, with licorice, black tea and violet notes playing supporting roles. Sleek and refined through the finish, with sneaky depth. Drink now through 2033

Expert Reviews 

Decanter 92 Points |  The oldest part of this vineyard was planted in 1935 but the average age is 34 years. It's located at 400 metres – Ravera is one of the highest MGAs within the communes of Barolo and Novello, which it straddles. This 2019 is intensely perfumed, with dried fruits soaked in blood orange, strawberry jam and a suggestion of grace. The attack confirms this lightly extracted style, with ripe tannins, still sticky at the moment, and long, refreshing acidity leading to a good finish.

Vinous 100 points | The 2019 Barolo Ravera is the most intensely mineral and saline of the Barolos. Crushed rocks, white pepper, flowers, orange zest, red berry fruit and bright acids all run through this finely sculpted, chiseled Barolo. Readers who enjoy Barolos of energy and tension will adore the Ravera. I have always had a soft spot for this Barolo. The 2019 is another magnificent dimension of Vietti's dark horse, a wine that over the last 10-12 years has routinely challenged for the crown here, and often won!