2017 E. Guigal Hermitage Blanc

Community Tasting Notes (2) Median Score: 93 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View forceberry's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/8/2021 - forceberry wrote: 86 Points

  A blend of Marsanne (95%) and Roussanne (5%). Aged in 2nd use oak barrels. 14% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  Moderately youthful, vibrant yellow-green color. Very sweet, tropical nose with aromas of peach purée baby food and fruity gummi candies, some vanilla custard, a little bit of sweet oak spice, light floral notes of apple blossom and other white flowers and a hint of creamy richness. The wine is broad, full-bodied and slightly oily on the palate with lush flavors of ripe golden apples and white peach, some creamy tones, a little bit of vanilla custard, light sweet notes of borderline overripe pear, oaky hints of sweet woody spice and toasty nuttiness and a perfumed touch of floral character. The rather soft medium-to-moderately high acidity keeps the wine balanced, albeit doesn't lend much sense of freshness to it. The finish is rich, rather sweet-toned and quite lengthy with lush flavors of sweet Golden Delicious apple, some honeyed tones, a little bit of vanilla custard, light peachy tones, a hint of creamy oak and a touch of ripe apricot.
  
  A noticeably ripe, concentrated and a bit clumsy white Hermitage. The wine is still quite balanced, but in my books it feels a bit too big, sweetish and clumsy in character; even though the wine is supposed to see only used oak barrels, the emphasis is still quite heavily on rich and creamy oak tones with a rather dominant streak of vanilla. I've heard many say that Marsanne quite readily soaks up oak aromatics from oak barrels, and this wine seems to be a prime example of the phenomenon: I really didn't guess this was a Marsanne (-driven blend) nor that the wine came from Rhône. It was just a big, ripe and not particularly oaky but still very oak-dominant white with lots of everything yet still lacking some thrill and sense of harmony. The best I could do with my guesses was "I'd say this wine is French". At least I got that right - it was better than how many other attendee managed to guess! All in all, even though I enjoy Northern Rhône whites, this wine didn't do much for me.

  2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View nnektarios's profile
  • Report Issue

  4/28/2021 - nnektarios Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Straw Yellow and golden hues. Floral, white flowers, apricot, minerality, very complex on the nose. Minerality. Medium Acidity. Elegant. Medium to full body. Butter, Vanilla, Honey. Long finish. Beautiful Northen Rhone!

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.