La Mouline Côte-Rôtie Syrah

Believe it or not, this is my first La-La and what a way to do it with a 1994 no less! Flintstone vitamins, gym socks, pomegranate, purple flowers, minerals like crazy…and what seemed like an impenetrable wall of granite. Tons of baking spices. Modern? Yeah of course but my goodness the quality is indisputable and this worked really well with Iberico pork cheek, mushroom ragu with lavender and thyme. The reality is, even at 30 years old, this is youthful. Drink now through, I dunno, 2044?

A bottle I contributed during a trip to Napa’s Premiere Napa Valley week. This was opened at Torc, alongside a ‘97 Leflaive Les Pucelles, ‘11 Leroy Blagny, ‘89 La Chappelle and two young Napa cabs from Simon Estate. La Mouline is always my favorite due to the amount of co-ferment with Viognier.

Deserving of a 1-2hr decant, this got about an hour open in bottle by the time we got to it. I opened the ‘04 La Turque just a few weeks prior, so I had a reference point to work with. Heady aromatics, as expected…dark potpurri, spice, mesquite and mocha. On the palate, the youthful bacon-fat of Cote Rotie was gone and had channeled the classical tangy barbecue profile alongside black olive, peppered red and black berry fruit, and smoked meat at the finish. Whereas the LaTurque was almost Burgundian in profile (elegant, light), this was somewhere in-between the “bigger” LaLandonne and LaTurque…big, but balanced, likely due to vintage. Aromatics and finish here were standouts. Open now with a quick decant or hold another few years.

Very meaty wine, just excellent with a least two decades left

Dried meat, dried herbs, red fruit, white pepper, underdeveloped bruit fruits, underbrush.

Green pepper and bloody fruit. A meatiness. Gorgeous elemental stuff. Very fresh and vivacious. Lovely

Omg good

A few hours in the decanter served well to reveal what my favorite La La is all about. Finessed, elegant and seductive with complex aromatics of blackberry jam, campfire smoke, exotic spices, bacon fat and violets. It expands on the palate with great intensity, a caressing silky texture and a long and vibrant finish. Still young.

From a good looking bottle with a high fill. Dark and opaque in the glass. Exotic nose. Notes of smoked meat, black fruit, menthol, some olives and lots of spice. Rich and silky in the mouth. Great finish. Really good but missing the impact and weight in the middle of the best vintages of Mouline.

Initially tightly wound and pretty slow to get going, but it makes a big change after a sufficient decant and begins to show what La Mouline is all about. Pure class and elegance with seductive and complex aromatics of red berry fruit, bacon fat, campfire smoke and fresh violets. The palate is expansive with killer intensity, a velvety texture and a long and vibrant finish. Last sips were the best. This is still young.

A wow of a wine. The nose is spectacular. Sour cherry, dark gamey undertow, blood, dried herbs, and that brightening kick of viognier. Tastes age appropriate with more soft forest floor, oak subsumed, more savory than sweet. Glorious stuff but not OTT in any way. A super well-stored and fresh bottle. Very long. Over a couple of hours it lost intensity and the fruit dimmed a bit. Great.