1993 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline

The great glories of this house are its Cote Roties, of which there are now five separate offerings. The 1993s, which have just come on the marketplace, are from a troublesome vintage for everyone in Cote Rotie, rivaling 1984 in difficulty. Nevertheless, the single-vineyard wines have turned out well. As for the single vineyard wines, they are all excellent in 1993, but more herbaceous and clearly marked by the green pepper smells of slightly underripe Syrah. The 1993 Cote Rotie La Mouline exhibits a deep ruby color, light to medium body, soft, elegant aromas of toasty new oak, and a short finish with some unmistakable herbaceousness. The La Mouline character does come through in this supple wine, which is best drunk over the next 7-8 years. It is surprisingly better out of bottle than it was in cask. Guigal is one of the cellars where the wines always taste better after they are bottled than they do from cask, although as the scores in this segment indicate, some profound wines can be found in the 1994, 1995, and 1996 vintages Chez Guigal. Importer: Classic Wines, Boston, MA; tel. (617) 731-6644