E. Guigal : La Turque 2017

Very alluring, with silky waves of cherry purée and mulled plum fruit gliding through, gently infused with red tea, and hints of savory and sweet tapenade. Lingering minerality carries the finish, which has the structure and grip to merit cellaring, though the fruit is so hard to resist. Best from 2023 through 2038. 220 cases made, 60 cases imported.

You can almost smell the fresh clay, immediately a different register compared to La Mouline with star anise, incense notes and rolling tobacco as opposed to cigarette tobacco. Rounded, fuller and plumper with more mouthcoating tannins and touches of vanilla pod from the oak. The fruit is sweeter and juicier than La Mouline and this has a long, sappy finish with plentiful tannin but still elegant.

Opaque ruby. Seductively perfumed aromas of ripe, mineral-laced black and blue fruits, incense, potpourri and exotic spices. Sweet, gently chewy and penetrating on the palate, offering sappy blueberry, cherry cola and floral pastille flavors, with smoky mineral and vanilla nuances. Shockingly lithe for its depth, it finishes wonderfully long and juicy, with velvety tannins sneaking in late.

One of the legendary vintages for this cuvée is the 2017 Côte Rôtie La Turque, a blend of 93% Syrah and 7% Viognier from a tiny parcel in the Côte Brune lieu-dit. Always aged 4 years in new French oak, it offers a dense, saturated purple color as well as slightly more masculine notes of blackberries, smoked meats, dark chocolate, and graphite. Full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and perfectly balanced, with incredible purity of fruit, it already offers pleasure but will ideally be given 5-7 years of bottle age. It will deliver the goods for 30 to 40 years. It’s the star of the show in 2017 and one of the wines of the vintage.

What if La Turque were the most complete and accomplished of the house’s three legendary Côte-Rôtie cuvées. Flamboyant, intense, and brilliant, it asserts its great class.