Great bottle. Cork was totally clean. Has turned to tertiary stage with browning at the rim was great with Chicken roulade with mushroom and pine nuts and then with a duo of Lamb.
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Wow, this is really impressive stuff. The oak is almost totally absorbed. Massive, emphatic. Hugely smoky and full of creosote and charcoal. Excellent acidity. Long finish. Not for the shy, no one will be without an opinion.
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Masses of vegetal soup notes, followed by notes of plum, prune, spices, earthiness and game. Acidity is high enough to keep the wine fresh. Fairly silky tannins. Goes well with stewed beef.
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Masses of rich ripe dark luscious fruit. No decant needed, was great from first pour and didn’t evolve much, didn’t need to was magnificent black gold from the start. Slightly stewed after 2 hours but possibly because it warmed up so suggest 18-21 degree serving temperature.
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This stuff is amazing. Almost black in color. The concentration of pure Syrah blackberry and blueberry fruit is awesome. Terrific balance of acidity and suave tannins. Still primary at age fifteen. It’s “too modern” but irresistible anyway. I rarely enjoy red wine before it develops more complexity than this but I had to make an exception.
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2019 New Years Day Tasting (Milton, GA): Super dark core with cloudy reddish violet rim; powerful nose, dusty, liqueur, peppery, blueberry, menthol, glycerin, hot, jammy, violets, animal, leather, wild, sauvage, tobacco, heady and a bit alcoholic, creamy, herbs, complex but seems overblown right now, is there hope for development for the better in the future, seems like a really hot year.
Massive, powerful, intense and with levels of concentration that make the wine feel like they managed to slip a magnum of wine into a standard sized bottle! The fruit is inky and dark. Smoke, licorice, roasted black fruits with hints of deep red and blue fruit are with you from start to finish. This is no shy wine. Flamboyant, opulent and even decadent, this is a truly special, wine tasting experience.
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2003 E. GUIGAL EX VOTO ERMITAGE- 15.5% abv. which may be about 2% low; this was a serious challenge for my palate; it exuded extreme power and little finesse; following the spicy hot nose, came more spice laden sweet blackberry and black currant aided by liquorice and dark chocolate; a strong oaky streak ran though the entire experience; it finished very hot; it was majorly concentrated and struggled to reach a certain level of balance; I presume it will reach that point and will be all that it is reputed to be; it certainly has all of the stuffings.
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The best New World-style wine turns out to be from the Old World. The 2003 Ex Voto is extreme: among the darkest, biggest, most highly extracted wines I have ever had, with an immediate and giant nose of sweet dark fruits, especially cassis, followed by remarkably complex flavors of flowers, mushrooms, earth, minerals, Asian spices, mint and anise, as well as hints of stewed fruit. It also has, for a wine of this size and extraction, an incredible sappiness and medicinal quality that keeps it delicious and interesting for its entire Port-like, massive length. Its concentration is so great that a few drops are enough to reveal all these flavors. It has tremendous structure and beautifully integrated tannins. It is remarkably smooth. Perfect with a rich and complex dish of veal Agnolotti Piemontesi, this was one of the great wines of my life.
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100 RP Points plus some extra's (@ Bottles): In the bouquet organic flavors, medicine, tea, concentrated and ripe dark and red berries, vanilla and sweet spices. On the palate sweet spices, firm alcohol, firm acidity and oxidized impressions. A bit weird wine. The structure seems to be ok, but the organic flavors and oxidized impressions don't match. No score.
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Tasting of 100PP wines (Restaurant Bottles, Sas van Gent): Murky, dirty laundry, dry ditch, disjointed. Discussion in the group whether this is an off-bottle or that this presentation is a result of the scorching vintage and its roasted fruit.
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Man blir ibland osäker på sig själv när man sitter på en provning och alla tycker att det är ett helt fantastiskt vin och bästa årgången av Ex-Voto. Visst det är en väldigt kraftfullt och bra vin på många sätt men för mig så har det en portvins touch som jag har väldigt svårt för i denna typ av vin. När man nu har chansen att vid samma tillfälle prova samtliga årgångar så är det bara att konstatera att andra årgångar är mycket bättre än denna.
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When a wine moves you from the first sniff, and kicks it up to an entirely new level, you know you are in for a treat. 2003 Guigal Ex Voto is close to off the charts. This is incredibly concentrated, rich and intense. There is so much depth of fruit and material, it's easy to spend hours investigating the wine. The fruit is perfectly ripe. With everything going on, it's all in balance. There is no sensation of heat or over ripeness. The finish must last at least 60 seconds. If you're curious, pop a cork. If you're patient and want secondary characteristics, wait a decade.
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2003 Guigal Ex Voto is one amazing tasting experience. Incredible layers of concentration. This wine is so packed and stacked with ripe fruit, it tastes as though Guigal managed to place a magnum of wine into a 750 bottle! This is not quite at the level of 03 Chave, but it's close. The Chave is a bit plusher and slightly more opulent. This future legendary wine delivers the goods.
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Occasional tasting group: Wines with 100 Parker Points. (@ L in Z): So youthful. Almost everything is still hidden in this enormously concentrated wine. There is primary cassis, a beautiful harmony between sweetness and acidity. Enormously long finish. New world style almost. 95 points for the pleasure now, but when it ages and shows more of its complexity it will gain at least 2 - 3 points.
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It's a pretty special wine, and I thought it was showing quite a bit for its very tender age (after three hours decanting at home plus whatever we gave it at the restaurant, another hour and a half maybe?). This wine is going to be a killer.
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Steak night with Scott Manlin (Sammamish, WA): Wow, a ridiculous young wine. The concentration here is hard to believe. It makes the 2003 Chave (tasted this summer) look like a thin little waif of a wine. More academic than pleasurable at this point, but it was worth killing one young to understand this a bit more. Where the 2001 was actually quite seductive about 18 months ago, this is a huge, bruising monster of a wine. It amazes me how Guigal was able to make such a La-La like Hermitage in only his second vintage (albeit by buying into some of the greatest vineyards). Incredible wine.
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8/29/2023 - jmoon wrote:
A bit over ripe tonight.
Didnt change over 3 hours…: Pref this bottle slightly chilled
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8/27/2023 - Cromulent Likes this wine: 97 Points
Great bottle. Cork was totally clean. Has turned to tertiary stage with browning at the rim was great with Chicken roulade with mushroom and pine nuts and then with a duo of Lamb.
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11/5/2021 - sdr wrote: flawed
Corked.
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6/20/2021 - sdr Likes this wine: 95 Points
Wow, this is really impressive stuff. The oak is almost totally absorbed. Massive, emphatic. Hugely smoky and full of creosote and charcoal. Excellent acidity. Long finish. Not for the shy, no one will be without an opinion.
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3/21/2021 - vinhslee Likes this wine: 95 Points
Bottle-breathed for 8 hours.
Masses of vegetal soup notes, followed by notes of plum, prune, spices, earthiness and game. Acidity is high enough to keep the wine fresh. Fairly silky tannins. Goes well with stewed beef.
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7/17/2019 - jmoon Likes this wine: 96 Points
Masses of rich ripe dark luscious fruit. No decant needed, was great from first pour and didn’t evolve much, didn’t need to was magnificent black gold from the start. Slightly stewed after 2 hours but possibly because it warmed up so suggest 18-21 degree serving temperature.
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6/22/2019 - sdr Likes this wine: 95 Points
This stuff is amazing. Almost black in color. The concentration of pure Syrah blackberry and blueberry fruit is awesome. Terrific balance of acidity and suave tannins. Still primary at age fifteen. It’s “too modern” but irresistible anyway. I rarely enjoy red wine before it develops more complexity than this but I had to make an exception.
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1/1/2019 - Rezy13 wrote: 91 Points
2019 New Years Day Tasting (Milton, GA): Super dark core with cloudy reddish violet rim; powerful nose, dusty, liqueur, peppery, blueberry, menthol, glycerin, hot, jammy, violets, animal, leather, wild, sauvage, tobacco, heady and a bit alcoholic, creamy, herbs, complex but seems overblown right now, is there hope for development for the better in the future, seems like a really hot year.
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6/19/2018 - Old Vino Likes this wine:
so many elements of enjoyment. rich and loaded. cellar time needed, perhaps a decade or two.
NR
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11/13/2017 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
Massive, powerful, intense and with levels of concentration that make the wine feel like they managed to slip a magnum of wine into a standard sized bottle! The fruit is inky and dark. Smoke, licorice, roasted black fruits with hints of deep red and blue fruit are with you from start to finish. This is no shy wine. Flamboyant, opulent and even decadent, this is a truly special, wine tasting experience.
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7/1/2017 - Blake Brown Likes this wine: 90 Points
2003 E. GUIGAL EX VOTO ERMITAGE- 15.5% abv. which may be about 2% low; this was a serious challenge for my palate; it exuded extreme power and little finesse; following the spicy hot nose, came more spice laden sweet blackberry and black currant aided by liquorice and dark chocolate; a strong oaky streak ran though the entire experience; it finished very hot; it was majorly concentrated and struggled to reach a certain level of balance; I presume it will reach that point and will be all that it is reputed to be; it certainly has all of the stuffings.
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5/4/2017 - Jon and Bek Likes this wine: 95 Points
Geoff Kelly's Guigal Retrospective (Regional Wines & Spirits, Wellington, New Zealand): Dense red colour, purple rim. Nose of mainly plum and cherry, a little vanilla or coconut. Full bodied, complex layers of black cherries, blackberry, savoury, silky tannins with a slight salty minerality, and a lovely long finish. Beautiful wine.
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2/17/2017 - PaulusLoZebra Likes this wine: 100 Points
The best New World-style wine turns out to be from the Old World. The 2003 Ex Voto is extreme: among the darkest, biggest, most highly extracted wines I have ever had, with an immediate and giant nose of sweet dark fruits, especially cassis, followed by remarkably complex flavors of flowers, mushrooms, earth, minerals, Asian spices, mint and anise, as well as hints of stewed fruit. It also has, for a wine of this size and extraction, an incredible sappiness and medicinal quality that keeps it delicious and interesting for its entire Port-like, massive length. Its concentration is so great that a few drops are enough to reveal all these flavors. It has tremendous structure and beautifully integrated tannins. It is remarkably smooth. Perfect with a rich and complex dish of veal Agnolotti Piemontesi, this was one of the great wines of my life.
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12/12/2016 - burgcamel wrote: flawed
Corked
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4/10/2016 - Dehrmann Likes this wine: 94 Points
very rich, round, powerful, spicy, ripe black fruit...
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3/14/2014 - Zweder wrote:
100 RP Points plus some extra's (@ Bottles): In the bouquet organic flavors, medicine, tea, concentrated and ripe dark and red berries, vanilla and sweet spices. On the palate sweet spices, firm alcohol, firm acidity and oxidized impressions. A bit weird wine. The structure seems to be ok, but the organic flavors and oxidized impressions don't match. No score.
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3/14/2014 - jkoenen wrote: 86 Points
Tasting of 100PP wines (Restaurant Bottles, Sas van Gent): Murky, dirty laundry, dry ditch, disjointed. Discussion in the group whether this is an off-bottle or that this presentation is a result of the scorching vintage and its roasted fruit.
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11/27/2013 - FamilyLarsson wrote: 89 Points
Man blir ibland osäker på sig själv när man sitter på en provning och alla tycker att det är ett helt fantastiskt vin och bästa årgången av Ex-Voto.
Visst det är en väldigt kraftfullt och bra vin på många sätt men för mig så har det en portvins touch som jag har väldigt svårt för i denna typ av vin. När man nu har chansen att vid samma tillfälle prova samtliga årgångar så är det bara att konstatera att andra årgångar är mycket bättre än denna.
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9/3/2013 - Jeff Leve wrote: 100 Points
When a wine moves you from the first sniff, and kicks it up to an entirely new level, you know you are in for a treat. 2003 Guigal Ex Voto is close to off the charts. This is incredibly concentrated, rich and intense. There is so much depth of fruit and material, it's easy to spend hours investigating the wine. The fruit is perfectly ripe. With everything going on, it's all in balance. There is no sensation of heat or over ripeness. The finish must last at least 60 seconds. If you're curious, pop a cork. If you're patient and want secondary characteristics, wait a decade.
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1/4/2011 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
2003 Guigal Ex Voto is one amazing tasting experience. Incredible layers of concentration. This wine is so packed and stacked with ripe fruit, it tastes as though Guigal managed to place a magnum of wine into a 750 bottle! This is not quite at the level of 03 Chave, but it's close. The Chave is a bit plusher and slightly more opulent. This future legendary wine delivers the goods.
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11/15/2008 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Occasional tasting group: Wines with 100 Parker Points. (@ L in Z): So youthful. Almost everything is still hidden in this enormously concentrated wine. There is primary cassis, a beautiful harmony between sweetness and acidity. Enormously long finish. New world style almost. 95 points for the pleasure now, but when it ages and shows more of its complexity it will gain at least 2 - 3 points.
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5/9/2008 - Totatalitarian wrote:
It's a pretty special wine, and I thought it was showing quite a bit for its very tender age (after three hours decanting at home plus whatever we gave it at the restaurant, another hour and a half maybe?). This wine is going to be a killer.
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1/21/2008 - Totatalitarian wrote:
Just immensely concentrated, closed in tight but with a spark inside. It will be interesting to save some of this for 20-30 years.
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10/26/2007 - Eric wrote:
Steak night with Scott Manlin (Sammamish, WA): Wow, a ridiculous young wine. The concentration here is hard to believe. It makes the 2003 Chave (tasted this summer) look like a thin little waif of a wine. More academic than pleasurable at this point, but it was worth killing one young to understand this a bit more. Where the 2001 was actually quite seductive about 18 months ago, this is a huge, bruising monster of a wine. It amazes me how Guigal was able to make such a La-La like Hermitage in only his second vintage (albeit by buying into some of the greatest vineyards). Incredible wine.
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