By: AJ McClellan
What a night last Thursday!! We had Patrick Will in who has imported Guigal into Texas for the past ten years. Patrick’s wine knowledge was incredible and he shed some light on the great wines of Guigal that we love so much here.
The lineup was fantastic and inspired several other extraordinary bottles to be opened around the table after the tasting.
2010 Guigal Condrieu – A great Condrieu, like drinking honey and flowers. Very nice acidity and a long finish.
2006 Guigal Ex Voto Blanc – This was one of the most interesting bottles of the tasting. Bright acidity with wonderful fruit and mineral notes. This was a great bottle but I would love to see it in another 10 years! Wow..
2010 Guigal St Joseph Lie Dit Blanc – A balanced bottle of white with the perfect amount of alcohol and a great nectarine note on the nose that I couldn’t get enough of.
2006 Guigal Ex Voto Rouge – I could drink this wine all day! A great bottle with voluptuous tannins and fresh fruit notes. In twenty years this is going to be a jaw dropper!
2007 Guigal Vigne Hospice Rouge – Nice balance with great fruit and a pleasant earthy aroma on the finish.
Vertical of 1996, 2000, and 2004 6 Guigal Chateau D’Ampuis – These were all exceptional bottles and surprisingly very different from each other. the 96 was dirking very well right now with tannins that were beginning to soften and huge leather/tobacco notes. Surprisingly I thought the 00 was actually drinking better than the 96 right now with a softer palate and more expressive nose. The 04 was very good but also very tight. I tasted the 04 on Friday and it was drinking much better after sitting out over night.
1996 and 2000 Guigal La Turque – This was a fun comparison. Unfortunately one of the bottles of 00 was corked so the pours were a little short but it was no great loss as the 96 was clearly far superior to the 00.
After the tasting there were a fair amount of wine opened and spread around but there were three bottles that were by far the most fun to drink. We started with a bottle of 1994 Petrus, our members whipped into a frenzy everyone throwing money in to bring this bottle out. Once we got everything settled we popped the wine ad poured it around. The Petrus was drinking well but needed some time in a decanter before it was ready.
After the Petrus we popped a 1983 Palmer which was phenomenal! Classic old Bordeaux with a lovely floral and earthy notes. Last but not least was the 1982 Pichon Lalande which ended up being the wine of the night! After all the great wines we had such a great time that we retired the bottles to a place of honor so that we can remember how much fun it was.
