Winemaker's dinner with Philippe Guigal

Philippe Guigal made a visit in Stockholm, on invitation by the Swedish importer of Guigal, Vinunic. They took the occasion to arrange two Winemaker’s Dinners at Operakällaren, of which this was the one with the more exclusive wines. The lineup included both the most recent bottled vintage of a number of wines, in some cases those that are due to be released in a couple of months, and some older goodies.

Roederer has the same importer, explaining the choice of aperitif.

• NV Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier 87 Points

  France, Champagne

  Nose with green apple, some mineral and some bread aromas. Dry on the palate, again green apple, some mineral, a hint of spice, high acidity. Young, 87(+) p.
  This batch comes across as younger and more "green-apply" than usual for NV Roederer, and I could hardly detect the dosage.

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Regarding the two 2012 Condrieus, the stylistic difference between them seem less than when I've tasted earlier vintages, which may be due to the vintage character. My impresion of these two 2012 Condrieus is that the vintage shows a rather hot and ripe character.

• 2012 E. Guigal Condrieu 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  Nose with ripe pear, some peach and apricot, spice, mineral, and a hint of oak. The palate is noticeably oily, shows powerful concentration, pear, mineral, and a rather low acidity. Ready to drink now, not a wine made for cellaring, 89 p.

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• 2012 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  Nose with ripe pear, peach, strong spice notes, mineral with mint, discretely perfumed, and with oak notes. Palate with an oily attack, quite powerful concentration, pear, spice with some aniseed, strong mineral notes, barely medium acidity. Young, approachable now, but can be cellared, 91(+) p.
  Compared to the regular 2012 Condrieu, La Doriane has a more powerful nose, is a bit more concentrated on the palate, and – most importantly – shows more mineral notes and a bit more acidity. La Doriane is produced in a style that can be cellared for a number of years.

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• 2011 E. Guigal St. Joseph Lieu-Dit St. Joseph Blanc 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  Golden yellow colour. Nose with ripe yellow fruit, yellow apples, hints of oranges, mineral, some spice and a hint of flowery aromas. Palate with ripe yellow fruit, apple, noticeable mineral notes, slightly oily texture, spice, medium(-) acidity, a hint of bitterness, good aftertaste. Foody style, rather drinkable now, 90(+) p.

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• 2010 E. Guigal Ermitage Blanc Ex-Voto 96 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Light golden yellow colour. Nose with yellow apple, some oranges, pronounced mineral notes with some mint, some honey, a hint of herbaceous notes and possibly just a (pleasant) touch of turpentine, discrete perfumed notes, a hint of oak, very elegant. Palate with massive minerality with ripe yellow fruit including apples in the background, a hint of almond, medium+ acidity, very long aftertaste with mineral notes and freshness. Extremely elegant and balanced. Young, and while approachable now, it can be expected to close down, 96+ p.
  This was definitely one of the best white Rhône wines I have ever tasted! I found it even better than the 2009. The general 2010 combination of fine ripeness of the grapes and a high acid level, i.e., a lot of freshness, has succeeded to balance the inherent oily character of the wine and add extra finesse.
  Allow this wine to mature and I believe it would be very interesting to put it next to some Montrachets and hyphenated -Montrachet neighbours from good producers, i.e., extra concentrated white Burgundies with both elegance and a very full-bodied style. If the Burgundies were to be chosen from a somewhat hotter vintage such as 2009, I’m not sure that this wine would immediately stand out as a Rhône wine among the Burgundies.

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• 2010 E. Guigal St. Joseph Lieu-Dit St. Joseph Rouge 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  Dark red with purple notes. Nose with ripe blackberries, violets and liquorice; a classical Syrah nose. Medium bodied (+), palate with blackberries, rather good concentration, good acidity, medium tannins with a fine structure. Young, but approachable now, 90(+) p.

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• 2010 E. Guigal St. Joseph Vignes de L'Hospice 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  Dark red with purple notes. Nose with ripe blackberries and blackcurrants, flowery notes with violets and some perfume, liquorice. Elegant! Medium bodied+, palate with ripe blackberries, quite concentrated, flowery notes with violets, velvety medium(+) tannins, good acidity. Young, but reasonably approachable now, 93(+) p.
  Vignes de l’Hospice is usually a good wine with a straightforward Rhône Syrah character, built primarily on power rather than complexity and elegance. However, in this vintage the wine shows a polished and elegant character that I haven’t encountered before. The 2010 simply shows quite a lot of Hermitage style, in particular by the very velvety structure of its tannins. The 2009 (which I scored 93+ last year) was more powerful and darker in its aromas, but not as finely polished.

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• 2009 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 97 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Compact dark red colour with purple. Nose with ripe blackberries, strong flowery notes with violets and perfume, some mint, liquorice. Fully bodied with an oily and velvety mouth feel, palate with ripe blackberries and ripe dark cherries, enormous concentration, very good acidity, mineral, medium(+) tannins with very velvety structure. Very elegant both in the nose and on the palate! Young, approachable now, but can definitely develop since it after all shows some toughness, 97+ p.
  La Mouline is the one of the LaLs that is the most accessible already when released. However, the 2009 developed a lot in the glass (and I revised my score upward during this development), so those who plan to open a bottle while it's young should allow it at least a couple hours of aeration in a decanter.

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• 2005 E. Guigal Ermitage Ex-Voto 97 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Medium to dark red colour. Nose with ripe blackberries, blackcurrants, some tar, some signs of maturity with leather and some barnyard notes. Full bodied, palate with dark cherries and blackcurrants, quite concentrated, spice, medium+ tannins with a fine structure. Still rather young, but rather approachable now, 97(+) p.
  This wine gave me some Bordeaux feeling, but this can be because it was contrasted by a couple of Côte-Rôties. This was the big surprise of the tasting for me, because I had expected this wine to be less accessible, and that it hadn’t emerged from being closed down, which is the way many high-end red 2005s behave. 1,5 months ago, I actually felt that the 2005 Château d’Ampuis was more closed than the 2005 Ex Voto was now.

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• 1998 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Medium red colour, slightly faded edge. Nose with dark cherries, discrete herbaceous notes, cloves, pepper, some tar, some mature notes with barnyard and leather, discrete perfume notes; elegant. Full bodied, powerful concentration, palate with ripe dark cherries and blackberries, spice, good acidity, medium(+) tannins with a silky structure. Ready to drink but with rather youthful fruit notes, will be able to take a lot more in terms of cellaring, 95 p.
  This wine naturally shows quite a lot of fine mature notes, but it is surprisingly youthful for its age.

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• 1990 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Hommage á Etienne Guigal La Pòmmiere 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Medium red, some brick at the edge. Nose with blackberries, blackcurrants, animal notes with charcuteries, leather, barnyard, discrete herbaceous notes, noticeably flowery notes with violets. Medium bodied+, blackberries, ripe cherries, quite good acidity, medium tannins, spice. Classical development in the nose and on the palate, with a clear Côte-Rôtie style. Fully developed, but should be able to take 10+ more years in the cellar with no problems, 93 p.
  A unique experience considering that the total production volume of this wine was 150 magnums in the 1990 vintage, and that it has so far only been produced in the vintages 1989, 1990 and 2005. To me, this wine is at about the same level as the best vintages of Château d’Ampuis. I found it interesting to note that the typical Guigal style wasn’t as pronounced in this wine, due to the presence of some herbaceous notes and a quite present acidity. This wine simply came across as a very classical and mature high class Côte-Rôtie.

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