2008 Côte-Rôtie, La Landonne, E. Guigal, Rhône

The most successful of the three Cote Roties in 2008, the 2008 Cote Rotie la Landonne is a candidate for the wine of the vintage. Cigar tobacco, pepper, cured meats and abundant dark fruits all give way to a full-bodied, balanced, impressively concentrated wine that has integrated acidity, plenty of fruit and solid ripeness to its tannin. Opting to use 100% stems during the fermentation, the Guigals questioned whether the '08 should see the standard 4 years in barrel, but after continually tasting the wine (this father/son team tastes more frequently - and quickly - than just about any vignerons I know), they opted to keep it in barrel for the full duration. It's absorbed every trace of it's oak elevage and is drinking nicely today.jeb_dunnuck - 14/09/2015

The 2008 Cote Rotie La Landonne is a remarkable effort in this challenging vintage. Although harder edged than normal, it possesses loads of concentration along with abundant notes of roasted herbs, coffee, charcuterie, grilled meats, Asian soy sauce and black fruits. Medium-bodied and intense with moderate tannin, it should age well for 15 or more years. As I have written many times before, no one in the wine world is better at ‘raising’ a wine (or as the French call it elevage) than Marcel Guigal, who learned the skills from his father, Etienne. Because everyone tends to focus on vintage conditions and terroir, the importance of a wine’s elevage is often overlooked, but Guigal’s unusually long tank, foudre and small barrel aging regime for all his red wines as well as several of his whites results in an array of remarkable wines time and time again. Even the most challenging vintages, which often taste under-nourished, vegetal and thin in their first year or two of life, tend to take on concentration and character, turning out to be some of the finest wines in many of the most difficult Rhone vintages. Moreover, Guigal’s wines always taste better out of bottle than from barrel, which speaks to his honesty and integrity as well as to his brilliance in deciding how long to age a wine in wood or tank, as well as choosing the perfect moment to bottle it. None of this is as simple as it might sound, and that’s why Marcel Guigal gets my vote as the reigning genius in terms of the upbringing of his wines. The Guigals are the largest landholders in Cote Rotie and produce 35-40% of this hallowed appellation’s production. Five cuvees are produced in every vintage, the three single vineyard offerings, the Chateau d’Ampuis (a blend of top sites aged 38 months in 100% new French oak casks), and their largest production offering, the Brune et Blonde (which is aged in small barrels and usually co-fermented with 3-5% Viognier depending on the vintage). robert_parker - Wine Advocate #198 Dec 2011