E. Guigal
Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 2015
Côte-Rôtie
One of three single-vineyard Cru Côte Rôtie in the Guigal estate, La Landonne is a remarkable expression of terroir and one of the world’s most coveted wines. And for good reason, as La Landonne is situated on one of the steepest vineyards of the Côte Brune, a 45 degree slope that remarkably requires harvesters to start picking from the bottom of the vineyard and work their way up, placing grape bunches in bins that are set on sleds and dragged up the hill. Along with its position at the northern end of the Côte Brune and the fact it is the last vineyard to ripen, La Landonne is the mirror of the feminine and voluptuous La Mouline: it is a wine of driving power, defined by its dark fruit and structure. Marcel Guigal assembled this vineyard over 10 years though parcel-by-parcel acquisitions from 17 growers. The vineyard was totally replanted in 1975, the year of Philippe Guigal’s birth, and the first vintage was 1978.
VINEYARD
The La Landonne vineyard sits on clay-limestone soil, very rich in iron oxides, lending additional polyphenols. The 5.7 acre site is planted entirely with Syrah. It took the Guigals more than a decade to acquire this vineyard, acquiring it from numerous small owners parcel by parcel.
WINEMAKING
La Landonne is the one Guigal Cote-Rotie wine that is rarely destemmed to any degree. The wine is continuously pumped over, with fermentation and maceration lasting 4 weeks.
The wine is aged 40 months in new oak barrels, all made by Guigal at Chateau d’Ampuis.
VINTAGE
When Marcel Guigal called 2015 “the vintage of a lifetime” and on par with 1929, 1949, 1955 and 1961, the anticipation while Guigal carried out their customary extended aging was almost too much to bear. The vintage was nearly perfect, from vine dormancy right through harvest, and the resulting wines are spellbinding, with an utterly perfect balance of charm, complexity, and power. Replenishing rain in the winter restored the water tables to supply the plants with nutrients, and then abundant sunshine and warmth helped the vines mature the berries to perfection as the generous diurnal shift maintained the acidity and freshness of the fruit.
TASTING NOTE
A spellbinding wine, deep red in color. The aromatic intensity keeps us coming back to get deeper notes of blackberry, leather, licorice and exotic spice. There is massive structure to La Landonne 2015, ripe with concentrated flavors of tobacco, crushed rocks and spiced meat, while also offering a strong sense of terroir. This is everything we want to experience in a wine, and will continue to enjoy for the next 25+ years.
Color
Red
Grape Varieties
Syrah
Appellation
Côte-Rôtie
Farming
Guigal uses only environmentally sustainable methods of pest, disease and weed control. They work to conserve biological diversity, water resources, soils and ecosystems on their land. Packaging materials are recyclable or biodegradable. Lastly, they are committed to achieving a zero waste target.
Alcohol
13.0%
Suggested Retail Price
$525
Reviews
"Flavors simmering at the core"
Wine Spectator - September 12, 2019 Almost brooding, with warm dark currant, fig and blackberry paste flavors simmering at the core, while waves of ganache, espresso, roasted mesquite and juniper flow through and around them. All the elements are pulled through a seriously long finish by a bolt of smoldering cast iron. Will age glacially.
"Expressive bouquet"
Vinous - September 19, 2019 “Deep, bright-rimmed purple. An exotically perfumed, expressive bouquet evokes dark fruit liqueur, spicecake, smoky bacon, incense, vanilla and incense. A sexy floral nuance emerges with air and carries onto the palate, which displays intense blueberry, cherry liqueur, candied licorice and floral pastille flavors that deepen and spread out steadily on the back half.”
"Striking depth of aromas and flavors"
James Suckling - October 30, 2019 “This is a profound wine, offering really striking depth of aromas and flavors with a resonance that really stops you still. Dark stones, ripe dark plums and blackberries, licorice, sarsaparilla, orange peel and cloves with still more spices floating in the midst. The palate has such perfectly captured intensity of ripe dark plums and blackberries that it is seemingly impenetrable for now. Yet, the detail is all here. It builds and fills the palate completely with ripe, espresso-laced blackberries, black cherries and dark plums and delivers such freshness at the finish. This is a triumph and up there with the greatest La Landonne releases. Try from 2027"
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Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
Saint Joseph Vignes de l’Hospice
Saint-Joseph
Guigal’s Vignes de l’Hospice is one of the finest sites in the Northern Rhone Valley. This steeply terraced vineyard used to be divided into three, but Guigal now owns majority of this parcel in order to restore perception of Saint-Joseph as an appellation of utmost quality. In fact, Guigal is often asked when they will produce a fourth “LaLa,” and their response is that their fourth single vineyard phenomenon of the Northern Rhone is already being produced: the Vignes de l’Hospice.
Côte-Rôtie La Turque
Côte-Rôtie
Of the three famous single-vineyard “LaLas” that Guigal produces and are the most collectible wines of the Rhone Valley, La Turque is the newest. This vineyard produced outstanding wines in the first half of the 20th century, but then was not used for wine production for nearly 50 years. The Guigals acquired the vineyard and re-planted it in 1980 and 1981, based on Etienne Guigal’s memory of the quality of the wines it once produced. The first vintage appeared in 1985. In both position and style, it sits between La Mouline and La Landonne: the complex soils lend an exotic character to La Turque, and its concentration and elegance exhibit the virility of the Côte Brune with the subtlety and femininity of the Côte Blonde.
Côte-Rôtie La Mouline
Côte-Rôtie
First planted by the Romans 2,500 years ago, La Mouline is the oldest and most famous vineyard of Cote-Rotie, and Guigal’s single vineyard bottling of La Mouline in the 1960s set off a quality revolution throughout the Rhone Valley. The stunning amphitheater is the most complex plot in Cote-Rotie due to its extremely steep slopes with expositions in every direction. Of the three famous “LaLas” that Guigal produces and are the most collectible wines of the Rhone Valley, La Mouline was the first and is the only one on the Cote Blonde, and its signature is an unbelievable exoticism, an irresistibly and unique lifted floral, black fruit, earthy, spicy perfume, its coiled power always in balance, seemingly endless.
Ermitage Ex Voto Rouge
Hermitage
Ermitage Ex-Voto represents the fulfillment of a longtime dream of Marcel Guigal’s to own vineyard land on the hill of Hermitage. Through the purchase of the de Vallouit and J. L. Grippat domaines in 2000, Guigal acquired four exceptional vineyard parcels on this legendary site. The 2001 vintage was the first release of this estate-bottled Hermitage red and white. The quality of the intense old-vine fruit is quite special, but given the Guigal’s already strong work in Hermitage, they decided to only release an Ex-Voto red or white when the wine is utterly exceptional and clearly superior to their appellation bottlings.
Ermitage Ex Voto Blanc
Hermitage
Ermitage Ex-Voto represents the fulfillment of a longtime dream of Marcel Guigal’s to own vineyard land on the hill of Hermitage. Through the purchase of the de Vallouit and J. L. Grippat domaines in 2000, Guigal acquired four exceptional vineyard parcels on this legendary site. The 2001 vintage was the first release of this estate-bottled Hermitage red and white. The quality of the intense old-vine fruit is quite special, but given the Guigal’s already strong work in Hermitage, they decided to only release an Ex-Voto red or white when the wine is utterly exceptional and clearly superior to their appellation bottlings.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Guigal produces an intensely concentrated, inviting and complex Châteauneuf-du-Pape that is almost unique to the region today. Their passion for Châteauneuf, the leading appellation of the Southern Rhône, runs as deeply as that for their home sites in the Northern Rhône. The combination of working with top fruit that has perfect ripeness, along with their extraordinary patience in the cellar, results in rich and full, yet savory, spicy, seamless and balanced wines. Wines to enjoy immediately but capable of aging, and, above all, wines that leave you wanting more.
Hermitage Blanc
Hermitage
Whites make up a small percentage of production in the Rhône, under 2%, but white wines are a little bit of a secret specialty at Guigal and today comprise 25% of their production. And for good reason, as the whites of the Northern Rhône are true discovery wines, immensely appealing and complex. They specifically display an expressiveness and brightness while also capturing the warmth of the area. Even more of a discovery is Hermitage Blanc, one of the least-known yet most intriguing wines of the Rhône Valley and in the small 309 acre Hermitage AOC.
Hermitage
Hermitage
Hermitage is one of France’s most spectacular and famous appellations, producing small quantities of extraordinarily intense and ageworthy red wine and tiny amounts of dry white. The entire vineyard consists of 309 acres planted on a single granite hillside on the banks of the Rhône. The Hermitage Rouge is the example of a racy wine, that manages to remain seductive.
Condrieu La Doriane
Condrieu
La Doriane is a luxury cuvée of Condrieu that the Guigals have produced since the 1994 vintage. A great success since the first vintage, the wine always seems richly oaked and very fruity when young, transforming in 3-4 years into a seamlessly complex, aromatic and vibrant wine. La Doriane contradicts the accepted wisdom that Condrieu does not age well.