Cottage & Gardens’ wine-focused gift guide this year targets wine connoisseurs seeking out swoon-worthy bottles, including Champagne Bollinger PN AYC18 and E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 2020.
Long-time wine writer Sheri de Borchgrave explains to readers that Bollinger is known as the House of Pinot Noir in the region, and recently launched the PN series to underscore the House style with this 100% Pinot Noir cuvée. “While this new category Blanc de Noirs is NV, each release showcases Pinot Noir from a different village to highlight its distinctive terroir and taste in that vintage year. More than half of the grapes for PN AYC18, the fourth release of this series, are sourced from the Grand Cru village of Aÿ, in the 2018 vintage, and about 20% reserve wines are added to the blend,” she continues. PN AYC18 has beguiling aromas of marzipan and blood orange with sweet spices and a hint of menthol on its fresh citrusy finish – perfect for any holiday table or to continue aging in one’s cellar!
Ms. de Borchgrave recently had the pleasure of speaking with Philippe Guigal, where she was blown away by the La La wines – especially La Mouline 2020. She explains, “with grapes grown in a steeply terraced walled vineyard, the oldest site in Côte-Rôtie, this co-ferment of mainly Syrah and Viognier from old vines averaging 90 years is known for its beguiling violet and blackberry aromas and characteristics of softness and roundness. The aging regime of 42 months in new oak barrels results in a voluptuous silky texture. La Mouline from the Côte-Blonde is the most feminine of the three “La-La wines,” as the E. Guigal single vineyards are known.” She provides a brief overview of all three La La wines and reveals the 4th single vineyard release, La Reynarde, will launch in 2026!
Read the full story with all 16 swoon-worthy wines HERE
E. Guigal and Champagne Bollinger_Cottages & Gardens_11.25.24Related Wines
Champagne Bollinger
Champagne Bollinger PN AYC18
Champagne, France
PN, made entirely from Pinot Noir to underscore the very essence and DNA of the House style, is the first new cuvée added to Bollinger’s permanent range since rosé in 2008. Each release of PN, developed as a series to bring Bollinger’s unique vision of Pinot Noir to light, will showcase a different cru from the base year that highlights its distinctive terroir and taste. The fourth edition of the series, PN AYC18, sources many of the grapes from Aÿ, and explores the interpretation of Pinot Noir from 2018 and features reserve wines dating back to 2009.
E. Guigal
E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 2020
Côte-Rôtie
First planted by the Romans 2,500 years ago, La Mouline is the oldest and most famous vineyard of Cote-Rotie, and Guigal's single vineyard bottling of La Mouline in the 1960s set off a quality revolution throughout the Rhone Valley. The stunning amphitheater is the most complex plot in Cote-Rotie due to its extremely steep slopes with expositions in every direction. Of the three famous “LaLas” that Guigal produces and are the most collectible wines of the Rhone Valley, La Mouline was the first and is the only one on the Cote Blonde, and its signature is an unbelievable exoticism, an irresistibly and unique lifted floral , black fruit, earthy, spicy perfume, its coiled power always in balance, seemingly endless.
Related Producers
Champagne Bollinger
Champagne, France
Bollinger is one of the rare Grande Marques that’s still family owned. Known for its rich, elegant and polished style of Champagne, their outstanding wines are the result of rigorous attention to detail and incredibly labor-intensive practices that few houses are willing to undertake. Underscoring its excellence, Bollinger has remained British secret agent James Bond's Champagne of choice since 1973.
E. Guigal
Rhône Valley, France
The more you learn about the Guigal family, the more astounding becomes their story. Their wines are the benchmarks for every Rhône appellation, and over the last thirty years they have become arguably the most lauded producer in the world. Year after year the Guigal family produces wines of exceptional quality that in all classes offer exceptional value.