2015 - Cote Rotie La Turque, E. Guigal

Like the La Mouline, the 2015 Cote Rotie La Turque comes across as slightly closed—I wouldn't be surprised to see it inch up to a perfect rating in a decade or so. Lashings of ground spices—pepper, allspice, cardamom—are sprinkled over mixed berries, but this full-bodied wine is locked up tight, finishing with firm tannins. Give it at least 5-6 years, maybe even a decade or so, before pulling a cork.

Saturated purple. Hugely perfumed aromas of dark berry preserves, incense, potpourri, smoky bacon and spicecake. Cola, olive and cracked pepper flourishes build with air. Youthfully and broad in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated, sharply defined black/blue fruit, spicecake, vanilla and violet pastille flavors that are brightened by a smoky mineral accent. Chewy and appealingly sweet on the extremely long, floral-dominated finish framed by youthful, slow-building tannins.

More fragrant and open than La Mouline, aromatically speaking. Super-fine tannins, giving a chocolatey texture with delicious charred meatiness on the finish. Only just coming out of its shell, but there's loads of promise and purity on the palate – and again, that oak is entirely intertwined. Lengthy, powerful and svelte. (RH)