1999 Côte-Rôtie La Landonne

Director/enologist Jacques Grange initially felt the young 2000s were fine if a bit diluted by high yields, with the tannins not quite ripe enough. "Until September of this year I thought the red wines lacked concentration and structure compared to our region's wines, but now I find that they have good balance, finesse and purity," he explained. "And when you compare them to syrah from elsewhere around the world, they're not so bad." Still, Grange added, they will need earlier bottling than the '99s or '98s: the top '98s got an elevage of 26 months and the '99s 24 months, but the 2000s will be bottled after just 15 months. Grange finds the '98s especially true to their sites, while he considers the '99s the best vintage for the Northern Rhone since 1990. The house's top 1999 cuvees parcellaires showed spectacularly in November.