March 9, 2024 - Hawker Food Night: Blind, amazing fresh and youthful.
March 9, 2024 - Hawker night at Caroline's: Brought for a friend. My third and best bottle for this vintage so far, so fresh that most people guessed 2010s for this. Similar impressions except this was more youthful, had a primary nose with a beautifully balanced palate of dark red and brambly fruit.
October 7, 2023 - Probably the buy of the year by Melvin, the host who kindly shared all his wine with us on his own b’day, the definition of generosity. 90 Hermitage was much better but this is a really solid wine and such a great buy.
October 6, 2023 - Birthday dinner with good wine friends: Most managed to arrive at northern Rhone for this. Similar to my previous impressions - remarkably fresh, attractive dark fruit for its age. Some actually thought this was younger than the 2011 Chateau des Tours! Not nearly as good as the terrific 1990 however.
July 13, 2023 - More mature than the 83 Jaboulet, this showed brambly fruit with intense non-fruit iron and blood. A bit funky but complex and quite enjoyable. I didn’t get as big of a taste as I would have liked. I’ve had really superb experiences with these older Guigals.
June 14, 2023 - Some aged wines: Another older wine with a deep, brooding nose. Some liquorice, rustic bacon notes that screamed northern Rhone. Superb freshness for its age and I thought this was a wine that really showed its pedigree in terms of depth. First time trying an 80s Guigal and definitely much prefer their classic, restrained style during this era.
March 11, 2023 - A flight of two vintages, 1983 and 1990. This was hard to comprehend once revealed in blind tasting as all of us were in late nineties. Masterful winemaking, average vintage and 40 years later it still shines with fruitiness. Medium+ red colour. Medium intensity aroma of strawberries, tar, plums, black pepper, leather, herbs. Full body, concentrated and herbal with dried plum and strawberry flavours, earthy and herbal shades along bright acidity and melting powdery silky tannins.
January 23, 2023 - This was done for, sourced from Wine Bid.
June 12, 2022 - This was fantastic. Drinking beautifully.
January 16, 2022 - In my cellar since release. This was decanted around 4pm and tasted from 6-8pm. The bouquet from the start while decanting was gorgeous with licorice and red florals. Palate showed lovely smooth texture and lots of plum and milk chocolate especially around the 2 hour point where it seemed best. Smooth as silk until around the 3rd hour when it had lost the chocolate and became a good deal more tart, showing cranberry along with the plum. My last bottle and appropriately so!