Côte Rôtie La Landonne, Etienne Guigal 1991

The 1991 La Landonne will provide multimillionaires with plenty of pleasure over the next 20 years. They can also debate whether it or the perfect 1990 is the better wine. The 1991's bouquet offers huge, smoky, new saddle leather, licorice, Asian spice, meaty, and cassis scents. Black in color, with layers of richness, huge body, massive extraction, and a phenomenal finish, it is another legend from Marcel Guigal. It will be the least precocious of the 1991s, needing until the turn of the century to open and develop; it should keep for 25-30 + years. Last tasted 6/96.

The 1991 Guigal La Landonne is still a tad on the young side, but with a bit of persuasion in decanter, the wine blossoms quite well. The nose is deep, complex and powerful, soaring from the glass in a mélange of ripe cassis, plums, dark chocolate, grilled venison, nutty oak tones, good stoniness, saddle leather and plenty of ground pepper. On the palate the wine is deep, complex and palate-staining, with fine focus and balance for such a broad-shouldered wine. The finish is long, moderately tannic and soil-driven, with sound acids, layers of fruit, and a excellent grip and complexity. No doubt a couple more years of bottle age will allow this wine to open further, but it is getting very near to its pinnacle. An outstanding La Landonne. (Drink between 2005-2025)