The Chateau d'Ampuis is a blend of the seven different lieux-dits comprising this cuvée and is co-fermented with roughly 10% Viognier and raised four years in new barrels. It's made exactly like the famous Lalas here, and while it might have the same singular character of the three (now four) single vineyards, it's clearly in the same qualitative ballpark, and blind tasting after blind tasting has confirmed this for me. Looking at the 2010, it has shed most of its baby fat and is now showing a classic, elegant, yet still concentrated style and, as all of the top cuvées from Guigal tend to do, has absorbed every bit of its oak upbringing. Gorgeous red and black fruits, smoked meats, minty herbs, graphite, and spring flower notes all shine in the bouquet, and it's medium to full-bodied on the palate, with a layered, elegant mouthfeel, silky tannins, flawless balance, and a great finish. This complex, nuanced, incredibly seductive Côte Rôtie can be drunk any time over the coming 15-20 years. This is one of the all-time greats of this cuvée, and I wish I'd have bought more on release.

Rock-solid, offering dark currant and blackberry paste flavors that race along, thanks to well-embedded graphite and charcoal notes. The finish lets warm fruitcake, plum skin and singed juniper details fill in, with plenty of grip. Mouthwatering acidity and a long echo of sweet tapenade keep this racy and defined. *Top 100 Wines of 2014* (JM)

Opaque purple. Higher-pitched and more red-fruity than the hefty 2009, displaying scents of black raspberry, fresh flowers, Asian spices and smoky minerals. Juicy, sharply focused red and dark berry flavors become deeper and sweeter with air, picking up a suave spicecake quality. Closes silky, incisive and extremely long, with fine-grained tannins adding gentle grip.