Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/5037
74 / the tasting panel / december 2009 A t the northern end of the Rhône wine region, just a few miles south of Lyon in the Côte-Rôtie appellation, lie three steeply terraced vineyards producing the most expensive wines in the world nobody has ever heard of—the ultimate insiders' wines. Hugging the precipitous slopes rising from the west bank of the river above the town of Ampuis, La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne have, over the last couple of decades, shot to stardom, acquiring in the process the status of cult wines, the sort that collectors cherish and sommeliers hide away for their most important customers. This rise to fame and fortune was largely the result of the dedication and hard work of one man, Marcel Guigal, whose fam- ily company owns most or all of the three vineyards. The wines are either 100% Syrah (La Landonne) or Syrah co-fermented with a small proportion of Viognier, and they dem- onstrate such a beguiling combination of delicate power, of satiny earthiness that they have more in common with great Burgundy than their more rustic Rhône neighbors. Part of this greatness is due to the shape of the vineyards, and the way they are scooped out of the hillside like shal- low bowls, ensuring continuous sunshine throughout the day. And then there's the soil. As Philippe Guigal, Marcel's son, explains to me as we stand in the cellars tasting these extraordinary wines, in the southernmost vineyard, La Mouline, the soil is schist, lime- stone and silica, yielding a wine of delicacy and feminine charm. Guigal has picked three different vintages to taste, choosing each for the way it best displays the personality of that vineyard and, yes, the La Mouline 2004 proves to be charm- ing, approachable and utterly delightful. At the other extreme, 2 kilometers north, the soil of La Landonne has noticeable quan- tities of iron and manganese, producing a wine of power, structure and pronounced minerality, and the 2001 demonstrates all these qualities. It is still a baby, just begin- ning to reveal the sort of tertiary sous bois elements like mushrooms and tobacco that will eventually make it a great wine. The La Turque 2005 falls somewhere be- tween these two extremes, with more mus- cularity than the La Mouline and more lush fruit than the La Landonne. A powerhouse of flavors, my notes say, though this could very well be an apt description of all three of Guigal's remarkable LaLa wines. Guigal is imported by Ex-Cellars . The Rhône The LaLa Wines by Nick Passmore Guigal's three great vineyard sites express different facets of Côte-Rôtie Philippe Guigal in the vineyards. PHOTO: NICK PASSMORE