2018 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde

Community Tasting Notes (31) Avg Score: 91.3 points

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  4/27/2024 - Allthistalking Does not like this wine: 88 Points

  Drank this as part of a blind tasting of northern Rhone wines. Alongside St Joseph from guigal. Decanted 1.5 hours before tasting.
  
  Wine shows very fruit-forward on the nose, lots of oak. Fruits skew dark and reddish. Not a ton of complexity, maybe a little closed off. Beef jerky-like quality shows up after 5 mins in the glass, as well as the rotundone, pepper-spice cabinet scent.
  
  Palate is bold and rich but again not terribly complex. Maybe due to relative youth. But the wine is somewhat unremarkable at this stage, and given the price, not worth it for me.

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  4/14/2024 - LEEJV123 Likes this wine: 91 Points

  Full, round, rich, long, very balanced.

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  3/16/2024 - Papies wrote: 92 Points

  Very young , about 10 years too early especially from magnum like on this occasion.
  Not to be confused , the wine is not angular or austere , just is on the closed side for what could be and definitely would improve with a bit more earthy evolution and when that smoky side of the style makes its appearance. Very solid but not there yet. 91-92 for now.

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  1/30/2024 - ThatFrenchieGuy wrote: 92 Points

  What is it: 2018 vintage syrah with 4% Viognier co-ferment. 2018 was hot, so I expect this to be rounder than normal, but Guigal is good at being the "generically on-style but good" producer of the Rhone.
  
  Nose: A little closed at first, but after sitting for 20 min in the glass it was mostly blackish-red fruits (Blackberry, sweet cherry, red currant), a little gravel, a little earthy-savory, and a suggestion of both blue flowers and peppercorn.
  
  Palate: Bright high acid, moderate tannin, blackberry, peppercorn, lavender, red currant, earthy-savory-ish in the background lurking
  
  Takeaway: I think I might have just done a little light infanticide here, but it's what I want modern cab to be (fruit first, a hint of funk, and no green flavors) despite being made of syrah. Maybe not a great value at the moment for $75/btl ($36/half), but it paired quite nicely with sauteed spinach and a top sirloin. 4.5/5

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  1/24/2024 - sid_loves_wine Likes this wine: 93 Points

  This fell right in the middle of my current Côte-Rôtie experiences- not super standout for the region or price, but still a complex, beautiful example of Northern Rhone Syrah. Nose started pretty sharp and peppery, a little reductive, but quickly found its footing as the black, inky fruit came into being. The fruit was interesting; very dark and brooding, but still distinctly fresh and vibrant, not even remotely large-scaled, jammy, etc. It had real focus and verve, which I loved, although at times the cracked pepper tone threatened to bury it; the savory/earthy tones weren't meshing perfectly with the fruit at this stage. Good structure and acidity; plenty of tannin but pretty fine-grained, and it feels light enough for the appellation, which I asssociate with elegance.

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