Community Tasting Note
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whitmanlholt wrote:
December 12, 2015 - Popped and poured. This is a deep golden colored wine with a nose of marmalade and flowers. In the mouth, it is very rich, with an extremely thick texture and an impression of some oxidative aspects. The finish is lingering but slightly hot (likely due to the 15% (!) alcohol in the wine). Overall, this was a unique and interesting wine. It seemed a bit too loaded, and I’m not sure this style of white is for me (I have a few younger Hermitage blancs I’ll need to try soon), particularly for the price. I’m not ascribing a score due to the lack of perspective on how these should perform.
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4 Comments
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Fid commented:
12/13/15, 10:20 PM - Interesting review. You really need that acidity to balance things.
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Magnum PI commented:
9/22/17, 7:09 PM - Nice review. I have exactly one bottle less perspective than you, but am considering picking up this bottle, if for no other reason than the experience. Sometimes wine really needs food, and I wonder if you had this with anything, and whether perhaps that would have made a difference. Since you did not decant, did you notice whether the wine was tight and whether it evolved over the time you consumed it. Did you drink it with anyone else and did they give you any impressions? I realize this review was a couple of years ago, so any recollections you may have would be interesting.
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whitmanlholt commented:
9/23/17, 7:32 AM - I can't recall whether I had this with food, but do think that would help absorb some of the excess -- I don't know what the best meal is to pair with a wine like this. I don't recall the wine being tight; it was pretty open and rich right out of the box, so decanting probably would not do much. I did not share the wine with anyone else, so don't have further input beyond what was in my initial note. If you are looking at trying some white Hermitage, I would suggest starting with a younger vintage and cheaper wine to see if you like the style. Guigal makes a nice base Hermitage blanc that is very reasonably priced, and that I actually have enjoyed more than this Chapoutier (I own some more recent Chapoutiers H-blancs, but haven't tried any of them). 2003 may also be an outlier year given the heat in the Rhone/France that season, so again this particular wine may not be the most representative example. Cheers!
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Magnum PI commented:
9/23/17, 8:34 AM - Thanks very much! I think buying a few less expensive bottles is an excellent idea.