Côte-Rôtie La Landonne Côte-Brune

Super-intense, dark-stone and mineral aromas here. Coal smoke, graphite and some distinctive, sappy, herbal accents. Blackberries are swathed in black and green pepper, mocha and coffee. Cloves and other woody spices are all in the mix, too. The palate is muscular with firm tannins encompassing the punchy, black- fruit flavors. This is under lockdown for now and will need a while to settle. Try in 2025.

Very very deep blackish purple. Exotic and dense. Difficult to read. There is clearly lots here but it's difficult to discern exactly what it is!

While the 2014 Cote Rotie La Landonne looked like the pick of the litter from barrel, now that it's in bottle, it's closed down a bit and is showing more of its stemmy, whole-bunch character. Medium to full-bodied, it's the most potent and concentrated of the La Las but considerably less charming at this point in time, with brooding, dark fruit, hints of espresso and black olive on the palate and a chewy, tannic finish. Give it at least 5 years in the cellar before checking in on it.

Dark purple. Expansive cassis, blueberry liqueur, olive paste, vanilla and candied licorice aromas are lifted by a sexy floral note and a spicy suggestion of cracked pepper. Rich and broad but surprisingly energetic as well, showing powerful thrust to the concentrated black and blue fruit, spicecake, olive and cola flavors. Very smooth and round, revealing no rough edges that I can detect. Finishes very long and sweet, with a whiplash of blue fruit and slow-building, well-knit tannins that add framework. Drink: 2024 - 2033.