Opaque ruby. Intensely perfumed, spice- and mineral accented blackberry, cherry liqueur, potpourri, pipe tobacco and licorice on the penetrating nose. Sweet, spicy and focused on the palate, displaying impressively deep, ripe dark berry, kirsch, exotic spice and fruitcake flavors that slowly flesh out with aeration. Shows superb clarity and drive and finishes smoky and impressively long, with steadily building tannins and a lingering suggestion of candied violet.

This is dark and still a bit reticent, with a cast iron cloak around the core of dark currant, plum and blackberry paste flavors, showing lots of sweet bay leaf, anise and singed apple wood notes in the background. There's serious grip through the finish. For the cellar. Best from 2024 through 2038. 267 cases made, 40 cases imported.

The 2019 Côte Rôtie La Landonne comes from one of the greatest sites for Syrah in the world, the La Landonne lieu-dit located close to the center of the appellation, on the Côte Brune side. It reveals a deeper purple hue (it's slightly more opaque than the Seigneur de Maugiron) and offers a brilliant nose of ripe cassis, black raspberries, scorched earth, smoked herbs, and seared meat. Full-bodied and powerful on the palate, this is a deep, spicy, concentrated Côte Rôtie with a plush, layered mouthfeel, sweet tannins, beautiful balance, and a great, great finish. This puppy brings the fruit, opulence, and texture of the vintage yet still has a classic Côte Rôtie character. It benefits from a decant if you're opening bottles any time soon. It deserves 4-5 years of bottle age and will cruise of 15+.

Fresh aromatic layers of mint sit atop crushed red cherries and wild strawberries, with light clove and thyme on the nose. The palate is rich and enticing with black cherries, plums, rhubarb, pomegranate seeds, black olives and freshly picked rosemary leaves. Tremendous texture, structure, and refreshing acidity carry this wine to a robust finish of orange zest and black tea leaves.

The 2019 Cote Rotie La Landonne features its typical dark, meaty, espresso-like aromas, leavened by hints of raspberry and black cherry. It's full-bodied and concentrated but supple and relatively approachable, with soft, velvety tannins and a long, mouthwatering finish. It's delicious now, but I would not be surprised to see it close up for several years before reemerging into maturity, so catch it now, or hold it another 5+ years.