Full medium-deep red. Highly perfumed nose combines raspberry, woodsmoke, bacon fat, game and pepper, with a distinctly liqueur-like quality: classic high-pH Cote-Rotie aromas. Thick, round and lush, with compellingly sweet raspberry, gunflint, game, woodsmoke and mint flavors. An extremely suave wine that's aging slowly and gracefully. Shows surprising grip for a wine this smooth. A quintessential La Mouline that was approachable virtually from the time it was released.

The black/purple-colored 1991 La Mouline appears to be a perfect wine in the making, with a staggering bouquet of violets, bacon fat, sweet cassis fruit, and toasty oak. The wine exhibits superb density. It is tasting even richer and more concentrated than it did during its first several years of life. With 8% Viognier in the blend and made from extremely low yields (only 400 cases produced), it is a phenomenal wine. I find it more seductive than the nearly perfect 1990. Anticipated maturity: now-2012. Last tasted 6/96.