by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 

Tasted last night:

1. E. Guigal Brune et Blonde Cote-Rotie 1997: Dark color; lovely/fragrant meaty/smokey/ roasted classic C-R slight fruit nose; soft/smooth/elegant classic roasted/espresso/ smokey light/spicy/fruit flavor; med.long smooth/elegant spicy/pungent roasted/espresso finish w/ light tannins; a classic lovely ready-to-drink CR.
2. E. Guigal Brune et Blonde Cote-Rotie 1998: Very dark color; strong/fragrant more intense smokey/espresso/roasted/CR more intense fruit complex/lovely nose; big/rich/smooth/ elegant classic smokey/roasted/espresso/CR some blackberry/Syrah/fruit flavor; very long CR/roasted/espresso/smokey/mocha some blackberry/Syrah finish w/ modest tannins; needs a few yrs to develop and should hold another 6-10 yrs; lovely classic CR.
3. E. Guigal Chateau de Ampuis Cote-Rotie 1998: Dark color; very strong toasty/Fr.oak very low-key roasted/smokey/coffee rather peppery/Calif/cold-climate Syrah nose; tart quite peppery/cold-climate/Syrah rather toasty/oak rather hard/tannic slight blackberry/Syrah/ fruit flavor; long rather hard/tannic very toasty/oak/pungent slight roasted/coffee rather peppery finish; rather hard and blocky and quite Calif in style; needs some 3-6 yrs of age and should last; much like Failla QueSyrah in style.
4. E. Guigal Cote-Rotie Le Turque 1998: Dark color; some toasty/Fr.oak bit smokey/pungent more intense/blackberry/Syrah bit earthy/peppery rather Calif/style nose w/ little roasted/CR character; rich/big tannic peppery/blackberry/Syrah slight roasted/CR/pungent slight earthy flavor
5. E. Guigal Cote-Rotie La Mouline 1998: Very dark color; rather smokey/roasted/espresso fairly peppery/blackberry/Syrah slight smokey/pungent complex nose; tart rich smooth stunning peppery/blackberry/Syrah some roasted/espresso complex flavor; very long some roasted/ espresso/CR fairly strong peppery/blackberry/Syrah finish w/ fair tannins; smoother & more balanced than the LaLandonne; a stunning wine rather Calif in style but definitly that CR/roasted character.
6. E. Guigal Cote-Rotie La Landonne 1998: Very dark color; very strong espresso/roasted/CR bit closed/blackberry/Syrah/peppery more complex nose; tart/rich big/peppery/blackberry/ Syrah/cold-climate some roasted/espresso/CR bit blocky/chunky complex flavor; very long peppery/Syrah/blackberry some roasted/espresso/CR slight minerally finish w/ fair tannins; needs 4-6 yrs age and will last; initially a bit chunky/blocky w/ less roasted/CR but the perfume & CR/roasted really blossomed as it warmed in the glass; a stunning cold-climate Syrah; more Hermitage or Calif in style than classic CR, but definitly CR in character.
   
   

1. This wine tasting was held at one of my favorite restaurants in SantaFe, 315, formerly Bistro 315. Chef/owner Louis Moskow runs a pretty traditional French- bistro restaurant and does a very good job with the wine. He's been doing a series of wine seminars for the last year. This Guigal Cote-Rotie seminar was hosted by Pierre Serronde, affectionately known as Pierre LaGrande because of his stature. He owns the distributing company Vins de la Serpette that handles the Classic Wine Imports and Ex-Cellars who bring in the Guigal wines. I have had over the yrs maybe 6-8 of the Guigal LaLas, but never a horizontal at one time. Quite an experience. Louis prepared small appetizer plates to accompany all the Guigal wines. They were all extraordinarily done and matched well the Syrahs. I was worried that some of them might negatively impact the wines, but such was not the case. Kudos to Louis.
2. The BetB's are the "bottom"-of-the-line Guigal C-R. The Ampuis is a blend positioned betwixt the BetB and the LaLas. The BetB's were the epitome of CR w/ their classic roasted/espresso character. Both very elegant in character and a genuine delight to drink. The Amp, though more intense, to me had the CR/roasted pretty well bludgeoned by new/toasty/Fr.oak, very Calif/international in style. At around $85/btl, I can think of dozens of Calif Syrahs I prefer at half to third the price. The LaLas were all very Calif/international in style w/ loads of blackberry/Syrah fruit and a noticible but not excessive toasty/oak component. Yet they all three showed some of the classic CR/roasted character, though not at an intensity I would have preferred. In this style of wine, I think probably the Failla QueSyrah, the Edmunds StJohn Bassetti, the TinBarn, the Neyers Honoree probably show more CR character than these LaLas did, at a fraction of the $250/btl price. Heresey, I know. Of these LaLas, I thought the LaTurque was the most Calif in style and the least interesting of the three. Though nothing I'd throw out of bed. Initially, I preferred the lighter/more elegant LaMouline to the LaLandonne, which seemed a bit blocky and closed. But as they warmed in the glass, the LaLandonne started to really blossom and was easily my favorite of the night. Beautiful/spectacular Syrah.
3. At the prices charged for these wines ($40/$85/$250), the basic BetB would easily be my choice to buy. The Amp and the LaLas are waaay to pricey for what they are and I would much prefer dozens of Calif Syrahs I can think of at a fraction of their price.
   Viognier: Learned a lot about its use in CR from Pierre. I had always assumed that the standard practice was that the Viognier was interplanted amongst the Syrah in CR, was all harvested at the same time and co-fermented (the co-extraction thing). Apparently, there is only a tiny amount of
4. Viognier actually planted in CR, far more than is used in the CR reds. According to Pierre, they are allowed to harvest the requisite Viognier from the adjacent Condrieu vnyds and use that in their CR. The procedure at Guigal is that they make their Condrieu and then backblend that, after fermentation, into their CR to achieve whatever character they're seeking in that year. That's a new one for me. And probably why I've never heard of anyone tasting pure CR Viognier.
5. It was my privledge to share a table w/ Bob Sherwood. First time we've had an opportunity, even though having known each other well in CyberSpace for a number of yrs, to taste together in RealSpace. Also at his table were Bill&Cheryl Jamison (prolific cookbook authors) and Dave & Susan Curtis (SantaFe School of Cooking). Made for a most pleasant evening, though because of the seriousness of these wines, there wern't any dancing on the tabletops last night!!