Wine Club Miami La-La-Launches 2025 with Mind Blowing Rhône Tasting

The Club's kickoff event at Lafayette Miami shook the city with its rare gems

It seems like each consecutive tasting gets better and better at Wine Club Miami. And with Jeff Tenen as new president, it’s easy to see the envelope will be pushed until its ripped to shreds in 2025. The squad rolled into Lafayette Miami at 7pm sharp and the team led by wine director Higor Valle and sommelier Nicolas made us feel welcomed in the incredible, wine-friendly space in downtown Brickell.

Apart from being the first tasting of the year, other celebrations were in order too. With member David Yarus’ birthday around the corner, we inside Lafayette’s hidden cellar room where we opened a 2008 Krug to share (David’s gift to the crew!) and paired it with deviled eggs and a healthy scoop of caviar on top of each.

Do we need to decant Champagne? We’re not 100% sold on it but this Krug was easily evidence to support decanting, or at least waiting a good 15 to 20 minutes, to enjoy aged bubbly. Some came to regret drinking it so quickly while others in the great gasped at the evolving flavor in the glass filled with honey, orange peel and loaded croissant aromas. A truly great wine that needs to be in everyone’s cellar no doubt.

In the cellar, we also discussed details of our upcoming trip to Champagne and the Rhône Valley in October to celebrate our 20th anniversary (more details to come soon). Once the Champagne bottle was empty and we had had enough of the temptation of the insane labels shining at us from Lafayette’s cellar, we headed to our table where the team had set an unbelievable place for the tasting:

• 2004 Domaine Marc Sorrel, Hermitage Blanc

• 2009 Stephane Ogier, La Belle Helen

• 2007 Rene Rostaing, La Landonne

• 2007 E. Guigal, La Landonne

• 2007 E. Guigal, La Mouline

• 2007 E. Guigal, La Turque

We could end the article here. Why continue? The labels say everything. But we are too tempted to describe these life changing wines. The Hermitage Blanc donated by member Jesus was a left field wine with intense flavors. It takes a developed palate to appreciate its oily texture. A 100% Marsanne from old vines gave way to honey, almonds and peach aromas and a very unique wine. We paired it was Line Caught Bigeye Tuna Tartare & Caviar.

We moved onto the reds with plenty of excitement starting with young Rhône legend in the making Stephane Ogier’s La Belle Helene. This was elegant and rich with balanced acidity that kept everything in check. A beautiful wine.

Bad to the Rhône

Alongside the Ogier, we tasted Rene Rostaing’s ‘07 La Landonne, sourced from the steep slopes of Côte-Rôtie (aka roasted slope, for its exposure to the fierce sun). There were many interesting descriptors for this wine (some you have to DM us to know!) but we mainly noted this was one of the bigger wines in the lineup that still has decades ahead and shows the secrets of its ageability today. It showed expressive black fruit aromas and dried herbs with a strong sense of cracked pepper and bitter chocolate. We paired both those wines with young glazed chicken.

The main act followed: E. Guigal. Holy shit these were firing off on all cylinders to put it lightly. E. Guigal is special, and one of the most iconic names in wine for their outstanding quality and longevity.

All donated by president Jeff Tenen, we poured the Mouline, Turque and La Landonne side by side. Mouline is sourced from Côte Blonde (gentle slope) and showed the most feminine, elegant and Burgundian characteristics of the three. Almost sweet in character, it was silky in texture and smooth in tannin, and was the most entertaining wine of the three. It’s a movie you’ve watched 1,000 times but can’t get over how it makes you feel.

The La Turque was one of the favorites of the night for its power and smoked meat flavors. Sourced on Côte Brune (steeper, more challenging slope), the wine popped out of the glass ready to fight with full body richness and classic black olive aromas backed by lovely spice. A wine of epic proportions with mind bending complexity.

Finally, we went back to La Landonne which was, as expected, the most powerful of the three. It was the wine you could say has not approached its peak yet, but still so good today. This one is sourced from even steeper blocks in Côte Brune, and shows masculine characters with intense dark fruit, strong tannins and unforgettable flavors that bring you only to one place: Côte Rôtie.

One of the best parts about this tasting is analyzing such stark differences between those three glasses that are made of grapes that are grown a stone’s throw away from each other. It shows wine’s greatest talent: transmitting place and nature better than anything else.

Next up: Legends of Bordeaux!