| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Rhône > Northern Rhône > Côte Rotie |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
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. 2027 - 2047
The 2018 Cote Rotie La Mouline is immensely seductive, offering up enticing notes of floral potpourri and red berries on the nose. Those strawberries and raspberries persist onto the full-bodied palate and through the long, lush finish, buoyed by supple, creamy-textured tannins. This is the most complete, compelling vintage of La Mouline I've tasted. 2025 - 2045
Scheduled to be bottled early in 2022, the 2018 Côte Rôtie La Mouline is a blockbuster of a wine offering full-bodied aromas and flavors of black raspberries, cassis, spring flowers, espresso, and violets. Coming from a steep, terraced, warmer terroir and fermented with 10% Viognier, it’s always the sexiest, more exotic, and seamless, as well as approachable, of the flagship releases. The 2018 will unquestionably pure a smile on your face as soon as it’s released, but it will ideally be given 7-8 years of bottle age and drunk over the following 30+ years.
The 2018 Côte Rôtie La Mouline (which includes 15% Viognier) tastes like a mix of the 2015 and 2018 and has full-bodied richness and depth as well as remarkable purity in its cassis and blackberry fruits as well as classic Côte Rôtie spice, game, and assorted meatiness. With ripe tannins and a fleshy, blockbuster style, it’s going to evolve gracefully for 25-30 years.
Like the 2017, Guigal's 2018 Cote Rotie La Mouline boasts incredible aromatics, with highs ranging from violets and peppery spice to ripe blueberries and raspberries. The oak is in the background, supporting the supple fruit. Full-bodied, lush and silky, La Mouline seems to have it all in 2018.
