E. Guigal : La Mouline 2018

A beefy red pierced by intriguing spice and dried incense notes, with heavy espresso, charred anise and warm cedar elements draped over flavors of red plum and chocolate ganache. Shows savory acidity that drives energy through the long, cigar box–tinged finish. Brawny and bold, with serious power and pedigree. Drink now through 2039.

Deep ruby. A complex, highly perfumed bouquet evokes mineral-accented black raspberry, cherry-cola, olive, violet candy, vanilla and cracked pepper. Sweet, focused and penetrating on the palate, offering intense red and blue fruit, floral pastille and exotic spice flavors that flesh out with aeration. The spice and floral notes come back emphatically on a strikingly long, focused finish that's given shape by fine-grained, slowly mounting tannins.

Violets, espresso, black and red plums, smoke, and dark red berries permeate the nose. On the palate, the wine quickly asserts its opulent character. Layers of exotically textured, silky, elegant, and refined fruit, with all their purity, linger for nearly 60 seconds. The wine combines 89% Syrah with 11% Viognier. Philippe Guigal thinks this reminds him of the 1988. Drink from 2030–2055.

Just about pure perfection as well as a desert island wine, the 2018 Côte Rôtie La Mouline comes from a tiny parcel in the Côte Blonde lieu-dit and spent four years in new barrels. Incredible notes of black raspberries, spring flowers, bacon fat, smoked game, violets, and pepper all emerge on the nose. These carry to a full-bodied, round, supple, sexy Côte Rôtie offering ultra-fine tannins, an insane level of purity, no hard edges, and a monster of a finish. As with the other 2018s here, it leads with its fruit and has a supple, ethereal style on the palate. It doesn't have the sheer wealth of material or density of the 2010, 2015, or 2019, but it’s possibly a slightly richer, sexier version of the 2016. Hide bottles for just 4-5 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following two decades or so.

Still a little young, with superb fruit freshness and a tension marked by great finesse and elegance; in this well-ripened vintage, the oak stays well in the background, almost already integrated.

This cuvée once again impresses with its depth, definition, and the energy of its fruit. Naturally, patience will be required: the ageing (42 months) has indeed polished the wine, yet it is less marked than one might imagine. It already unfolds an incredible array of flavors.