Nose: cigar box, cherry, dried rose petal, smoked meat, green olive; very expressive and layered
Palate: cherry, cigar box, green olive, smokey, dried earth, blood orange; finish of green olive and smoke; med- body; high - acid
Overall: nose is wonderful, the palate has good notes but it is maybe slightly tart or too acidic? Not sure. Tannins are a bit drying. Mouthfeel just feels off. You can really taste the terroir on this wine which is lovely.
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Method: decanted off sediment; 61 degrees; Grassl 1855; high neck fill; perfect cork (wow!)
Look: medium- garnet with some bricking (but not too much) at edges
Nose: cedar, clove, cigar box, black licorice, cherry, dried rose petal, faint green olive meat, faint woodsmoket; very complex and layered, but not super expressive
Palate: cherry, blood orange, cedar, light olive meat, clove; long- flash of distinct green olive, clove cigar box, dried bay leaf; dry; medium- body; medium+ fine but very drying tannin; medium to medium+ acidity, maybe slightly tart
Overall thoughts: Really complex and tasty, but tannins are still very present and very drying. I don't expect this to improve from additional age. Great wine!
Update: The wine is pretty much dead after 2 - 3 hours (and I didn't decant this portion of the bottle off the sediment until right before drinking it)
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Double-decanted for two hours. Dark garnet, dense color but clear. Nose of roasted beef, olives, garrigue and some smoked dried meat. Red current/berry fruit with good acidity and flavors that mimic the nose. Very classic, masculine style. Would pair well with roasted meats. Not going anywhere fast but drink over next five years.
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Was looking forward to this after the last bottle but this was an odd showing I couldn't quite get my head around. Very very smoky and somewhat bitter at points that made me wonder if it was off. Now hours later my palate is shot but the nose seems really good - not explosive like the last bottle but solid - it's got that meaty, bloody, tomato and citrus squirt thing. Will have to try it again tomorrow - the previous bottle held well for days.
Day 2: Bricked all the way through. I'm liking this better today, although it isn't as good as the last bottle. I looked over other notes last night and those who talk about charcoal or tobacco really nailed it. It's got that stewed tomato-smoked meat-blood thing along with the smokey-charcoal thing and an herbal tobacco. Lots of umami like last bottle but its missing a lot of the remnants of the fruit giving sweetness that really completed the last bottle. But there is a marzipan-nutty-sweetness that adds a bit of creaminess and is really nice. The palate is super smokey and charcoal - funky like good bad weed. Finish is all tomato and smokey umami. I've grooving on this now, as Z would say [ ;) ]. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17/20.
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he immediate nose shows classic aged Syrah. Aged meat togheter with a mix of dried red fruits as well as some fresher darker fruits. Finishing off with a touch of tobacco, leather and spice. Surprisingly alive I must say.
On the palate the wine shows great density and lovely refreshing acidity. Lovely core of fruit and well resolved tannins. Very elegant and plush, but with the slightest chalky crunch at the finish. Medium + finish and just delicious. Welcoming reminder of how well these wines may age.
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Flippin' epic showing; blind via small bottles from Seth. The nose at first is musty cellar, moss, and antique cabinetry (this had me leaning Burgundy) but it rounds out with air to show beautiful red fruit tinged with leather, soy, meat locker, and some bretty barn door. Beautiful to drink and rivetingly fresh, it's all red fruit and umami spectrum flavors, very long and utterly captivating. The funky brett and the resolved core of red fruit reminded me of Levet, which was my guess. This gained vigor and intensity over the course of a couple of hours and showed no signs of stopping. A pour from a second small bottle showed smokier and brinier than the first, revealing more archetypal Syrah notes. What a great wine!
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kickin' right now. Beautiful tertiary aromas - nutty dry aged meat smell, a little smoked meat, a bit of leaf or tobacco and some dried red fruits and a bit of florals. Tons of Unami. Some crunchy green. Really perfumes and beautiful with nice power for its age. Celery salt? Palate is delicious with soy and umami and some salty crunch. Great sweetness totally revolved memories of fruit. A nice herbal thing and dried florals and the . Nutty dry aged thing a bit. Cedar. Delicious and “soft” - resolves but so much flavor. Finish is soy and nutty meat and dark sweetness. Nose: 5-5.5/6, Palate: 5.5/6, Finish: 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi: 1.5/6 = 17.5-17/20.
NB - I drank this from 2-3 small bottles for like 5 days and it didn't get tired much. For the first 3 days for sure it was still soaring and perfumed and complex. Wow.
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Every bottle of Guigal Cote Rotie I've had from the 70s and 80s has been utterly sublime, and this is no exception. On the nose: almost entirely tertiary with charcoal, dried flowers, a touch of cedar and barbecued notes. On the palate, lovely acidity, more barbecue, dried raspberry, leather, brine...tannin entirely attenuated, but there is very little more I could ask for in an aged cote rotie. So elegant, though not as intense as the 79 we had...maybe on par or slightly below the 78 we had recently. Much, much better than the 91. Perfect pairing for lamb chops.
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Oh what a nose - this is why I love properly aged Syrah from Rhone! Secondary spices and leather note back by dark fruits, not tired at all. Palate less so interesting but tannin and everything fully integrated. Again not as impressive as the 1989 version which is more completed and packed with more flairs. Great wine for this price. At peak now but should still enjoy a few years at the top. 15.5/20
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Medium ruby with slight sign of age, not as developed as I would expected. Lovely and round bouquet, slightly rich but definitely not excessive. Palate got a slightly sharp acidity and less balance vs 1989. Goes better with food. However three hours later it finally settle down and got more fruits and floral with the acidity subdued. Really interesting to see such development. Was giving a 15/20 to start but the end of wine rounds off nicely. Not as impressive as the 1989 but still drinking nicely. 16/20
I cannot find any reference about this cuvee before Guigal releasing their Chateau d'Ampuis in 1995. However the difference in quality from the 1988/1989 that I have tasted vs recent vintages make me wonder if Guigal had the fruits from the old vines and better plots (which they now make Chateau d'Ampuis) in this humble cuvee back then.
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Bricked color. At first it seems like it's past prime, but with air it puts on weight and breathes up to show pretty red strawberry fruits, lots of herbs (I distinctly noticed sage) and lots of savory earth. It has the integration and savory umami quality you only get from age, and the earthy finish is long and savory. A really lovely example of fully mature Cote-Rotie.
My first visit to Bern's Steakhouse (Tampa): My first choice in a Rhone was for a Cornas but they didn't have one with age that fit into my budget so the Somm picked this one. Never had this wine with age so the contrast to my previous tastes was interesting. This poured like a Pinot Noir colorwise. Light pale red, nearly transparant. The nose was the star with earthy red cherry, some roasted meat and a citrusy orange zest. It had a gamey edge that wasn't bretty gamey just hard to pin down. Medium minus bodied, showing some of its age with black cherry and a briney saline kinda olive note with just a bit of bacon. The acidity was enough to balance out the rare Chateaubriand. Tannins were soft and resolved. It had that earthy gamey edge that made up for the lack of fruit. Interesting but not memorable. Not OTH by any means, but it doesn't look like more time will improve it at all.
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No formal note, just wanted to echo the fine notes already here for this fully mature wine. The nose was still offering plenty of typicity, but it's the lovely tertiary character that really tantalizes the senses. Medium>full-bodied, elegant, and finishing med>long, this was in very fine shape on the night; time to drink up, not improving from here. Charming, with plenty of visceral moments. Very fun to try. recommended
Served non-blind.
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Really lovely at first opening. Fresh, violets, bacon, very classic old school Côte Rotie. Not a deep finish at this point. Kept waiting for it to show more depth and to fully unfurl, but never did. Started to thin out after about 40 min. Would drink these now if you have them.
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The Tale of Many Auslese and One Scheu: ripe, syrah, leather, meat and blood. Funky, old leather smell, resolved mid with lovely hit of warmth on the finish. mid is still full of red fruit with smoke and pepper. delicious!
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Never could stand that fork ... (Mikhailgrad (Rego Park, Queens)): Browning around the edges. Nose of juicy citrus zest, raspberry, cranberry, smoked meats, saline, olive? Mature on the palate - some meat, leather, earth, saline, tart cherry and cranberry. This is thinning a little bit in the end palate. Smooth leather, earth and tart fruit on the finish. Actually, with time, the palate and finish filled out some - I noticed it but didn't update my scores - so the final wine would probably merit a point higher on the 20-point scale. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 4.5/6, Finish - 4/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 14.5/20.
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In the House of MLERMONTOV (New York, Rego Park): What a stunning performance from the ’88 Guigal Brune et Blonde, as the nose opened with soil and undergrowth, yet quickly gained momentum as plum and herbs were joined by raw meat, animal musk and chalky minerals. On the palate, it was unbelievably rich for its age, yet refined, showing dried berry, citrus rind, savory broth, cracked pepper and dried spice. The medium-length finish was silky-soft. Very nice!
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In which Seth lost his fork. (Count's place, NY): Very classic, old school Côte-Rôtie that just kept getting better and better with air. Iron, earth, leather, faint leafy notes, and a core of brined olives and red berried fruit. Polished, graceful, fully mature. Superb. Why can't modern Guigal Côte-Rôtie taste like this?
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Popped and poured Nice earthy aromatics that followed through with earthy and lightly fruited palate. Medium weight and lacking any structure. I found this wine to be a touch dilute and lacking concentration. Perhaps this was better five years ago. Drink now.
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Wow. Purchased off the shelf at Sam's in 1994 and cellared since. This was very good. Color showed a little age, but overall the nose was singing Northern Rhone and delivered on the palate with both fruit and secondaries over 3 hours. Such a treat and far exceeded expectations, but would be drinking up. A-
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Garnet red: decanted 45 min- nose of red currant, dried cherry, dark coffee; body very thin, taste of leather, cigar leaf, tart cranberry; thin finish, disappears Had this with rich fatty food which helped hide the thin astringent character of the wine and focused on the nose which was not unpleasent When young this was praised as a great Cote Rotie- so--- @ 25 yrs it's "watch out". Drink ASAP
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Rhones and Riesling with new friends (Grand Sichuan, St. Marks Place, New York, NY): Red-brown all the way through. Nose of shoes and rubber, lots of sauvage, wet fur - meaty and chunky and stewy. Some citrus peel, some plummy fruit, some purple-red spice. Palate shows salty tomato, beefy, sauvage, citrus peel. A little soft and tart on the finish. Good now, probably fading a bit. Drink up. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 4.5/6, Je Ne Sais Quoi -1-1.5/2 = 15.5-16.5/20.
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Tasted blind. Color: medium/light ruby -> light ruby rim with slight bricking. Nose showed a slightly green/sappy element that wasn't entirely pleasant as well as smoke, bacon, barnyard. Palate came across as pretty woody. Not a tremendous amount of fruit left or a lot of finesse. I think this was probably better several years ago. Least favourite of the flight of three (vs. '90 Clape Cornas, '91 Chave Hermitage).
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A&F's Post-Confinement Party (Asia Grand, Odeon Towers): I thought this was very nice - just a bit on the simple side given its status in the Guigal pecking order and the relatively strong vintage, but still very enjoyable. The nose was clearly Rhone, with dark notes of cherries and blackberries shaded by aromas of dried earth, roasted meat, and more lifted tones of spice, rubber and hints of violet. Very attractive. The palate was still ratehr marked by the high acid and fine but firm tannins of the vintage, but these had obviously mellowed over the years, leaving a nicely plush, if not quite velvety, feel to its clean, clear flavours of plums and black cherries finished with a touch of dried earth and spice. A bit simple and a bit weaker right at the very finish, where a suggestion of past hardness came out a little amidst juicy notes of hawthorne berries. But all that aside, this was qute delicious indeed. Time to drink up though.
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Inky stewed cherries and plums with gluey action. Nice burg like nuances but the heavier fruits betray it as a Rhone. Some herbs and garrigue does pepper through the wine with black licorice too.
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At first the Brune et Blonde was pungent with barnyard and earth, but as it sat in the glass, notes of warm blackberry tart with a whiff of raw smoked bacon and chalky minerals came forward. On the palate, it was clean and bright with sour blackberry fruit and savory meaty notes. Pepper and herbs dominated the finish and completed the experience. Beautiful.
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There was some nice aromas, but compared to the 88 Hermitage of Guigal, I preferred the Hermitage a lot more. This one looks a bit faded. It must have been really good in its prime making it now very frustrating.
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Cote Rotie / Hermitage vs CDP (Peach Garden @ OCBC Building): Alcohol :: 13% Deep ruby red with light rim. Tight, gentle aromas of meatiness, peppery spice, some herb and alcohol tone. The palate too is tight, or perhaps unyielding as the flavors are somewhat buried under the tannin and alcohol, but showing good depth in it. Finish is long, but quite alcoholic. The wine opened up more with more red cherry sweetness when tasted together with the fish in black bean sauce. After all, this is rather underwhelming, prefer the 1989. Buy - No.
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Medium red, some bricking. Spicy nose of smokehouse door, violets, mixed garrigue, baked blackberry, oak. Low acid, balanced tannin. Delightful fruit still on board, and with nearly every secondary element I have noticed in any Cote Rotie. Finishes well, powerful wine still. One can sense there's still a fair dollop of Ogier and Gallet-sourced fruit in the nose and palate of this example of the B&B bottling; concentration changes enormously with the 1989 vintage. Bottle # 11 of twelve.
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Dinner with Yaacov, Mike and John (New York City, New York, USA): Snap! Meat and gunpowder and blood. Utterly at peak, maybe not as much bacon and pepper as I might like, just juicy and bloody, perfectly mature. With a pork chop and black bean dish I was in absolute heaven.
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Father's Day treat. Decanted for 1.5 hrs. Deep purple color with some maturity at the edge, but less than expected at age 21. Beautiful Cote Rotie nose of herbs, leather, and blackberry. Medium-light body with pure, refined blackberry fruit, leather, a touch of brett and well integrated oak and tannin with still-fresh acidity. Long, delicious finish. Paired beautifully with grilled lamb. A great bottle of wine at its plateau of maturity.
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Was the bottle was corked? While the very first odors which rose off the cork and the bottle were indeed strange, I noted the cork seemed to have maintained its integrity on the upper third portion, and concluded that the odors may have just been a function of the 20 years of chemical reactions. While my girlfriend was ready to cork the bottle and return it, I began tasting what was the most perfect incarnation of a Rhône wine: that characteristic horsey leather odor, wet concrete and mineral tones, and an even more refined floral dimension (more so than the “garrigue” palette) that surpassed any other Rhône wine I’d had. The only thing I could compare it with was the Sang des Cailloux (Vacqueyras), which matched its overall strength and overbearing nature. I didn’t want the bottle to end, and was reminded of the old blue French 50 Franc note with the Petit Prince when marveling at the beautiful silvery, shimmering crystals that had accumulated on the cork. Tartrates from non-stabilization? I had never tried a wine so old before, and also marveled at the particulate which had built up at the bottom of the bottle: standard dark quasi tea leafish violet flakes, and a ¼” pinkish purple pellet that looked a bit like wax. Finished even more nobly rather than fading into tartness: I tasted no flaws halfway through the bottle: perhaps it should have had the discipline to decant for longer than 45 min!! 97% Syrah, 3% Viognier?
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Should have been better, given the vintage. Nose was at times reticent, at other times giving off blue fruit, anise and lightly floral. The palate is middle weight, dark, showing muddled dark fruits, black raspberry and sweet liquorice, but it lacks energy and doesn't really go anywhere. B-
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Fantastic. Still showing lots of fruit, but with a ton of roasted meats, iron and smoke. Long finish with great acidity. Showing the muscularity of the vintage for sure.
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Australia and Rhone at Haukeland Sykehus (Haukeland Sykehus, Bergen, Norway): Deliciously complex and mature nose. Not as much oak as I would expect from Guigal. Aromas of cedar tree and asparagus. Stunning. Complex, rich and with great balance on the palate. Incredibly long. Fantastic wine with a lovely balance. Clearly the wine of the night.
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The Blind Drunks monthly tasting (Rich & Dana's): Tasted double blind at the November Blind Drunks tasting. Ruby to garnet in color, wit notes of cherry, fresh herbs and red fruit. On the palate, nice acidity carries red fruit flavors, which are accented by white pepper.
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Not nearly over-the-hill yet; nose has become very complex and beautiful, with prominent iodine hints on top of a raspberry core. Perfect balance, long finish. Wish I had more.
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45th Birthday dinner wine. Decanted 1hr. Barnyard nose at first; blew off with time in the decanter. Turned out to be a good an alluring wine. Score, high 80's
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Tasted at dinner at Montrachet with Olivier. Taste was generously sent to our table from another. The Montrachet staff encourage sharing on their Monday night BYO amongst tables opening high quality wines.
This wine was very strange. it had an overwhelming aroma and taste of an old-time garlic pickle! Not dill associated with American oak but pickle spices and garlic. Most unusual.
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3/2/2024 - AlyssaRock12 wrote: 91 Points
Nose: cigar box, cherry, dried rose petal, smoked meat, green olive; very expressive and layered
Palate: cherry, cigar box, green olive, smokey, dried earth, blood orange; finish of green olive and smoke; med- body; high - acid
Overall: nose is wonderful, the palate has good notes but it is maybe slightly tart or too acidic? Not sure. Tannins are a bit drying. Mouthfeel just feels off. You can really taste the terroir on this wine which is lovely.
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3/2/2024 - JRockEsq Likes this wine: 91 Points
Method: decanted off sediment; 61 degrees; Grassl 1855; high neck fill; perfect cork (wow!)
Look: medium- garnet with some bricking (but not too much) at edges
Nose: cedar, clove, cigar box, black licorice, cherry, dried rose petal, faint green olive meat, faint woodsmoket; very complex and layered, but not super expressive
Palate: cherry, blood orange, cedar, light olive meat, clove; long- flash of distinct green olive, clove cigar box, dried bay leaf; dry; medium- body; medium+ fine but very drying tannin; medium to medium+ acidity, maybe slightly tart
Overall thoughts: Really complex and tasty, but tannins are still very present and very drying. I don't expect this to improve from additional age. Great wine!
Update: The wine is pretty much dead after 2 - 3 hours (and I didn't decant this portion of the bottle off the sediment until right before drinking it)
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1/5/2024 - VinLouie Likes this wine: 90 Points
Double-decanted for two hours. Dark garnet, dense color but clear. Nose of roasted beef, olives, garrigue and some smoked dried meat. Red current/berry fruit with good acidity and flavors that mimic the nose. Very classic, masculine style. Would pair well with roasted meats. Not going anywhere fast but drink over next five years.
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11/25/2021 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 94 Points
Was looking forward to this after the last bottle but this was an odd showing I couldn't quite get my head around. Very very smoky and somewhat bitter at points that made me wonder if it was off. Now hours later my palate is shot but the nose seems really good - not explosive like the last bottle but solid - it's got that meaty, bloody, tomato and citrus squirt thing. Will have to try it again tomorrow - the previous bottle held well for days.
Day 2: Bricked all the way through. I'm liking this better today, although it isn't as good as the last bottle. I looked over other notes last night and those who talk about charcoal or tobacco really nailed it. It's got that stewed tomato-smoked meat-blood thing along with the smokey-charcoal thing and an herbal tobacco. Lots of umami like last bottle but its missing a lot of the remnants of the fruit giving sweetness that really completed the last bottle. But there is a marzipan-nutty-sweetness that adds a bit of creaminess and is really nice. The palate is super smokey and charcoal - funky like good bad weed. Finish is all tomato and smokey umami. I've grooving on this now, as Z would say [ ;) ]. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17/20.
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5/1/2021 - evold89 wrote: 92 Points
he immediate nose shows classic aged Syrah. Aged meat togheter with a mix of dried red fruits as well as some fresher darker fruits. Finishing off with a touch of tobacco, leather and spice. Surprisingly alive I must say.
On the palate the wine shows great density and lovely refreshing acidity. Lovely core of fruit and well resolved tannins. Very elegant and plush, but with the slightest chalky crunch at the finish. Medium + finish and just delicious. Welcoming reminder of how well these wines may age.
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1/31/2021 - Chomsky wrote:
Flippin' epic showing; blind via small bottles from Seth. The nose at first is musty cellar, moss, and antique cabinetry (this had me leaning Burgundy) but it rounds out with air to show beautiful red fruit tinged with leather, soy, meat locker, and some bretty barn door. Beautiful to drink and rivetingly fresh, it's all red fruit and umami spectrum flavors, very long and utterly captivating. The funky brett and the resolved core of red fruit reminded me of Levet, which was my guess. This gained vigor and intensity over the course of a couple of hours and showed no signs of stopping. A pour from a second small bottle showed smokier and brinier than the first, revealing more archetypal Syrah notes. What a great wine!
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1/30/2021 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 95 Points
kickin' right now. Beautiful tertiary aromas - nutty dry aged meat smell, a little smoked meat, a bit of leaf or tobacco and some dried red fruits and a bit of florals. Tons of Unami. Some crunchy green. Really perfumes and beautiful with nice power for its age. Celery salt? Palate is delicious with soy and umami and some salty crunch. Great sweetness totally revolved memories of fruit. A nice herbal thing and dried florals and the . Nutty dry aged thing a bit. Cedar. Delicious and “soft” - resolves but so much flavor. Finish is soy and nutty meat and dark sweetness. Nose: 5-5.5/6, Palate: 5.5/6, Finish: 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi: 1.5/6 = 17.5-17/20.
NB - I drank this from 2-3 small bottles for like 5 days and it didn't get tired much. For the first 3 days for sure it was still soaring and perfumed and complex. Wow.
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12/13/2019 - Aravind Asok wrote:
Every bottle of Guigal Cote Rotie I've had from the 70s and 80s has been utterly sublime, and this is no exception. On the nose: almost entirely tertiary with charcoal, dried flowers, a touch of cedar and barbecued notes. On the palate, lovely acidity, more barbecue, dried raspberry, leather, brine...tannin entirely attenuated, but there is very little more I could ask for in an aged cote rotie. So elegant, though not as intense as the 79 we had...maybe on par or slightly below the 78 we had recently. Much, much better than the 91. Perfect pairing for lamb chops.
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4/2/2019 - SommStags wrote:
Late night: PNP with gold fill. Smokey meat and bacon with nice structure. Not a powerhouse but very good given the price and lvl.
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1/22/2019 - derekastoria Likes this wine:
Oh what a nose - this is why I love properly aged Syrah from Rhone! Secondary spices and leather note back by dark fruits, not tired at all. Palate less so interesting but tannin and everything fully integrated. Again not as impressive as the 1989 version which is more completed and packed with more flairs. Great wine for this price. At peak now but should still enjoy a few years at the top. 15.5/20
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3/6/2018 - derekastoria Likes this wine:
Medium ruby with slight sign of age, not as developed as I would expected. Lovely and round bouquet, slightly rich but definitely not excessive. Palate got a slightly sharp acidity and less balance vs 1989. Goes better with food. However three hours later it finally settle down and got more fruits and floral with the acidity subdued. Really interesting to see such development. Was giving a 15/20 to start but the end of wine rounds off nicely. Not as impressive as the 1989 but still drinking nicely. 16/20
I cannot find any reference about this cuvee before Guigal releasing their Chateau d'Ampuis in 1995. However the difference in quality from the 1988/1989 that I have tasted vs recent vintages make me wonder if Guigal had the fruits from the old vines and better plots (which they now make Chateau d'Ampuis) in this humble cuvee back then.
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12/16/2017 - coremill wrote: 91 Points
Bricked color. At first it seems like it's past prime, but with air it puts on weight and breathes up to show pretty red strawberry fruits, lots of herbs (I distinctly noticed sage) and lots of savory earth. It has the integration and savory umami quality you only get from age, and the earthy finish is long and savory. A really lovely example of fully mature Cote-Rotie.
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12/2/2017 - andrewdodd86 wrote: flawed
Hard pass
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4/8/2017 - River Rat Likes this wine:
My first visit to Bern's Steakhouse (Tampa): My first choice in a Rhone was for a Cornas but they didn't have one with age that fit into my budget so the Somm picked this one. Never had this wine with age so the contrast to my previous tastes was interesting. This poured like a Pinot Noir colorwise. Light pale red, nearly transparant. The nose was the star with earthy red cherry, some roasted meat and a citrusy orange zest. It had a gamey edge that wasn't bretty gamey just hard to pin down. Medium minus bodied, showing some of its age with black cherry and a briney saline kinda olive note with just a bit of bacon. The acidity was enough to balance out the rare Chateaubriand. Tannins were soft and resolved. It had that earthy gamey edge that made up for the lack of fruit. Interesting but not memorable. Not OTH by any means, but it doesn't look like more time will improve it at all.
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10/25/2016 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:
No formal note, just wanted to echo the fine notes already here for this fully mature wine. The nose was still offering plenty of typicity, but it's the lovely tertiary character that really tantalizes the senses. Medium>full-bodied, elegant, and finishing med>long, this was in very fine shape on the night; time to drink up, not improving from here. Charming, with plenty of visceral moments. Very fun to try. recommended
Served non-blind.
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8/28/2016 - LW31 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Really lovely at first opening. Fresh, violets, bacon, very classic old school Côte Rotie. Not a deep finish at this point. Kept waiting for it to show more depth and to fully unfurl, but never did. Started to thin out after about 40 min. Would drink these now if you have them.
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6/18/2016 - WinePlanner wrote: 87 Points
Smooth, a little tart with fresh berry flavors. Subtle nose of saddle and short to medium finish. Amazingly fresh for its age.
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12/15/2014 - Mlermontov wrote: 93 Points
The Tale of Many Auslese and One Scheu: ripe, syrah, leather, meat and blood. Funky, old leather smell, resolved mid with lovely hit of warmth on the finish. mid is still full of red fruit with smoke and pepper. delicious!
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12/14/2014 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 89 Points
Never could stand that fork ... (Mikhailgrad (Rego Park, Queens)): Browning around the edges. Nose of juicy citrus zest, raspberry, cranberry, smoked meats, saline, olive? Mature on the palate - some meat, leather, earth, saline, tart cherry and cranberry. This is thinning a little bit in the end palate. Smooth leather, earth and tart fruit on the finish. Actually, with time, the palate and finish filled out some - I noticed it but didn't update my scores - so the final wine would probably merit a point higher on the 20-point scale. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 4.5/6, Finish - 4/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 14.5/20.
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12/14/2014 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 94 Points
In the House of MLERMONTOV (New York, Rego Park): What a stunning performance from the ’88 Guigal Brune et Blonde, as the nose opened with soil and undergrowth, yet quickly gained momentum as plum and herbs were joined by raw meat, animal musk and chalky minerals. On the palate, it was unbelievably rich for its age, yet refined, showing dried berry, citrus rind, savory broth, cracked pepper and dried spice. The medium-length finish was silky-soft. Very nice!
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12/14/2014 - salil wrote: 93 Points
In which Seth lost his fork. (Count's place, NY): Very classic, old school Côte-Rôtie that just kept getting better and better with air. Iron, earth, leather, faint leafy notes, and a core of brined olives and red berried fruit. Polished, graceful, fully mature. Superb. Why can't modern Guigal Côte-Rôtie taste like this?
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5/4/2014 - EhrlichDY wrote: 86 Points
Popped and poured Nice earthy aromatics that followed through with earthy and lightly fruited palate. Medium weight and lacking any structure. I found this wine to be a touch dilute and lacking concentration. Perhaps this was better five years ago. Drink now.
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4/14/2014 - MC wrote:
Wow. Purchased off the shelf at Sam's in 1994 and cellared since. This was very good. Color showed a little age, but overall the nose was singing Northern Rhone and delivered on the palate with both fruit and secondaries over 3 hours. Such a treat and far exceeded expectations, but would be drinking up. A-
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8/7/2013 - vinojones wrote: 85 Points
Garnet red: decanted 45 min- nose of red currant, dried cherry, dark coffee; body very thin, taste of leather, cigar leaf, tart cranberry; thin finish, disappears
Had this with rich fatty food which helped hide the thin astringent character of the wine and focused on the nose which was not unpleasent
When young this was praised as a great Cote Rotie- so--- @ 25 yrs it's "watch out". Drink ASAP
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8/5/2013 - FLI Likes this wine: 91 Points
Complex, smoke and earth. Fruit is restrained but had berry flavors. Holding up very well.
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2/5/2013 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com Does not like this wine: 88 Points
Brown Bag Wine Dinner at Two Chefs Double Blind; 2/5/2013-2/6/2013 (TWO CHEFS, MIAMI, FL): The wine looks Yellow gold colored. The legs are Slow. It smells like and Ethyl Acetate. Alvaro's wine.
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12/13/2012 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 92 Points
Rhones and Riesling with new friends (Grand Sichuan, St. Marks Place, New York, NY): Red-brown all the way through. Nose of shoes and rubber, lots of sauvage, wet fur - meaty and chunky and stewy. Some citrus peel, some plummy fruit, some purple-red spice. Palate shows salty tomato, beefy, sauvage, citrus peel. A little soft and tart on the finish. Good now, probably fading a bit. Drink up. Nose - 5-5.5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 4.5/6, Je Ne Sais Quoi -1-1.5/2 = 15.5-16.5/20.
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12/10/2012 - BVal wrote: 89 Points
Tasted blind. Color: medium/light ruby -> light ruby rim with slight bricking. Nose showed a slightly green/sappy element that wasn't entirely pleasant as well as smoke, bacon, barnyard. Palate came across as pretty woody. Not a tremendous amount of fruit left or a lot of finesse. I think this was probably better several years ago. Least favourite of the flight of three (vs. '90 Clape Cornas, '91 Chave Hermitage).
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10/17/2012 - Paul S wrote: 92 Points
A&F's Post-Confinement Party (Asia Grand, Odeon Towers): I thought this was very nice - just a bit on the simple side given its status in the Guigal pecking order and the relatively strong vintage, but still very enjoyable. The nose was clearly Rhone, with dark notes of cherries and blackberries shaded by aromas of dried earth, roasted meat, and more lifted tones of spice, rubber and hints of violet. Very attractive. The palate was still ratehr marked by the high acid and fine but firm tannins of the vintage, but these had obviously mellowed over the years, leaving a nicely plush, if not quite velvety, feel to its clean, clear flavours of plums and black cherries finished with a touch of dried earth and spice. A bit simple and a bit weaker right at the very finish, where a suggestion of past hardness came out a little amidst juicy notes of hawthorne berries. But all that aside, this was qute delicious indeed. Time to drink up though.
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10/17/2012 - Alex H wrote: 88 Points
Inky stewed cherries and plums with gluey action. Nice burg like nuances but the heavier fruits betray it as a Rhone. Some herbs and garrigue does pepper through the wine with black licorice too.
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2/21/2012 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 92 Points
At first the Brune et Blonde was pungent with barnyard and earth, but as it sat in the glass, notes of warm blackberry tart with a whiff of raw smoked bacon and chalky minerals came forward. On the palate, it was clean and bright with sour blackberry fruit and savory meaty notes. Pepper and herbs dominated the finish and completed the experience. Beautiful.
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2/15/2012 - Pierre-Yves wrote: 88 Points
There was some nice aromas, but compared to the 88 Hermitage of Guigal, I preferred the Hermitage a lot more. This one looks a bit faded. It must have been really good in its prime making it now very frustrating.
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7/1/2011 - Sleepy Dave wrote:
Cote Rotie / Hermitage vs CDP (Peach Garden @ OCBC Building): Alcohol :: 13%
Deep ruby red with light rim. Tight, gentle aromas of meatiness, peppery spice, some herb and alcohol tone. The palate too is tight, or perhaps unyielding as the flavors are somewhat buried under the tannin and alcohol, but showing good depth in it. Finish is long, but quite alcoholic. The wine opened up more with more red cherry sweetness when tasted together with the fish in black bean sauce. After all, this is rather underwhelming, prefer the 1989. Buy - No.
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4/15/2011 - dkeyes wrote: 84 Points
Nice balance. Silky tannins. But huge on the barnyard. Super gamey. Still quite enjoyable.
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1/26/2011 - Hodby wrote: 93 Points
Medium red, some bricking. Spicy nose of smokehouse door, violets, mixed garrigue, baked blackberry, oak. Low acid, balanced tannin. Delightful fruit still on board, and with nearly every secondary element I have noticed in any Cote Rotie. Finishes well, powerful wine still. One can sense there's still a fair dollop of Ogier and Gallet-sourced fruit in the nose and palate of this example of the B&B bottling; concentration changes enormously with the 1989 vintage. Bottle # 11 of twelve.
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10/13/2010 - cellarid Likes this wine: 94 Points
unreal showing. super-classic flavors. nose of flowers, dried meat, iron and blue fruits. not quite fully mature. should evolve a bit more.
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10/11/2010 - Eric Likes this wine:
Dinner with Yaacov, Mike and John (New York City, New York, USA): Snap! Meat and gunpowder and blood. Utterly at peak, maybe not as much bacon and pepper as I might like, just juicy and bloody, perfectly mature. With a pork chop and black bean dish I was in absolute heaven.
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5/7/2010 - naina8 wrote:
Wonderful - classic Cote-Rotie. Bacon. Drinking quite well now.
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4/9/2010 - cellarid wrote: 93 Points
Flat out stunning. Give it a bit of air and tons of iron and black fruits emerge with a wave of cures meat. Classic cote-rotie in every way.
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2/22/2010 - vinojones wrote: flawed
corked
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6/21/2009 - stoneb wrote: 93 Points
Father's Day treat. Decanted for 1.5 hrs. Deep purple color with some maturity at the edge, but less than expected at age 21. Beautiful Cote Rotie nose of herbs, leather, and blackberry. Medium-light body with pure, refined blackberry fruit, leather, a touch of brett and well integrated oak and tannin with still-fresh acidity. Long, delicious finish. Paired beautifully with grilled lamb. A great bottle of wine at its plateau of maturity.
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4/21/2009 - timewithwine wrote:
see notes for R&RR 09
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6/24/2008 - cellarid wrote: 88 Points
Not as vibrant as previous bottles, but still very good. Nose was excellent, palate was a tiny bit lean.
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4/1/2008 - Gargantua wrote: flawed
Was the bottle was corked? While the very first odors which rose off the cork and the bottle were indeed strange, I noted the cork seemed to have maintained its integrity on the upper third portion, and concluded that the odors may have just been a function of the 20 years of chemical reactions. While my girlfriend was ready to cork the bottle and return it, I began tasting what was the most perfect incarnation of a Rhône wine: that characteristic horsey leather odor, wet concrete and mineral tones, and an even more refined floral dimension (more so than the “garrigue” palette) that surpassed any other Rhône wine I’d had. The only thing I could compare it with was the Sang des Cailloux (Vacqueyras), which matched its overall strength and overbearing nature. I didn’t want the bottle to end, and was reminded of the old blue French 50 Franc note with the Petit Prince when marveling at the beautiful silvery, shimmering crystals that had accumulated on the cork. Tartrates from non-stabilization? I had never tried a wine so old before, and also marveled at the particulate which had built up at the bottom of the bottle: standard dark quasi tea leafish violet flakes, and a ¼” pinkish purple pellet that looked a bit like wax. Finished even more nobly rather than fading into tartness: I tasted no flaws halfway through the bottle: perhaps it should have had the discipline to decant for longer than 45 min!! 97% Syrah, 3% Viognier?
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11/2/2007 - Pknut wrote:
Should have been better, given the vintage. Nose was at times reticent, at other times giving off blue fruit, anise and lightly floral. The palate is middle weight, dark, showing muddled dark fruits, black raspberry and sweet liquorice, but it lacks energy and doesn't really go anywhere. B-
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7/15/2007 - cellarid wrote: 93 Points
Fantastic. Still showing lots of fruit, but with a ton of roasted meats, iron and smoke. Long finish with great acidity. Showing the muscularity of the vintage for sure.
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5/15/2007 - trankin wrote: 91 Points
SOBER Tasting (JG's place): Tar, and a bit of iron on the nose. On the palate, tar, spice, and more tar. Very dark. Very nice.
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3/14/2007 - abbulf wrote:
Australia and Rhone at Haukeland Sykehus (Haukeland Sykehus, Bergen, Norway): Deliciously complex and mature nose. Not as much oak as I would expect from Guigal. Aromas of cedar tree and asparagus. Stunning. Complex, rich and with great balance on the palate. Incredibly long. Fantastic wine with a lovely balance. Clearly the wine of the night.
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11/26/2006 - AllRed wrote: 90 Points
The Blind Drunks monthly tasting (Rich & Dana's): Tasted double blind at the November Blind Drunks tasting. Ruby to garnet in color, wit notes of cherry, fresh herbs and red fruit. On the palate, nice acidity carries red fruit flavors, which are accented by white pepper.
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1/1/2006 - elfez wrote: 91 Points
Savagely tannic, lots of acid. Complex and rewarding, though not terribly user-friendly. I'd love to try it again in 5 years.
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12/6/2005 - WST wrote: 92 Points
Not nearly over-the-hill yet; nose has become very complex and beautiful, with prominent iodine hints on top of a raspberry core. Perfect balance, long finish. Wish I had more.
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4/2/2005 - LJV wrote:
45th Birthday dinner wine. Decanted 1hr. Barnyard nose at first; blew off with time in the decanter. Turned out to be a good an alluring wine. Score, high 80's
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6/14/2004 - JeffGMorris wrote: 88 Points
Tasted at dinner at Montrachet with Olivier. Taste was generously sent to our table from another. The Montrachet staff encourage sharing on their Monday night BYO amongst tables opening high quality wines.
This wine was very strange. it had an overwhelming aroma and taste of an old-time garlic pickle! Not dill associated with American oak but pickle spices and garlic. Most unusual.
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