TN: 14 Guigal 'blanc' [Cotes du Rhone]

14 Guigal blanc [Cotes du Rhone] 13.5% abv, chilled, and popped/poured over two days. Although I like Guigal’s rouge CdR, I don’t normally buy them since I figure I’ll end up drinking them periodically at restaurants/bars/travel etc. by the glass or something. And they are very consistent, year to year, so its not like there is a huge advantage for some vintages. However I don’t seem to trip over the blancs as much, so picked one up to try – I really liked it. Maybe I got lucky but this bottle was just great - a nose of fresh flowers, white stone fruits. Sometimes viognier driven wines can be a little cloying, but this was just right – medium bodied, the right amount of verve. It can be both a dinner wine (I had it with a tikka masala) or a sipping wine. We love viognier, especially when its bright and fresh, and one can taste that component here, but its not overpowering. Good length of finish. I had some La Doriane last month - a rare treat - and I didn’t think that was that much better than this, especially for those who actually prefer less / no oak in their viognier. Anyways, I’d enjoy this now, and its a good value. B+/A- in my ledger. Not sure why, and its not scarce or anything, but its a little harder to find at retail than the rouge. The rouge is everywhere, the blanc, not so much.

We buy a case of rouge, Blanc and Rose every year. They are all plentiful in our area. It makes a great Wednesday wine and some makes it into the food sometimes. For the price, it is hard to beat.

zoikes. if you’re drinking 3 cases of Guigal a year, you really helped build this

if that link doesn’t work try

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=marcel%20guigal%20house%20wsj

I pay $13.50 per bottle for CdR. It doesn’t add up to that much.

I had a bottle of the 2015 Guigal blanc CdR tonite, with aloo gobi and naan. It is a little fatter, fleshier than the 2014. To my tastes it has a little quinine, bitter tonic note to it. I liked the 2014 better, but we’ll see how this develops – I have a few more bottles to consume over the rest of the year. 13.5% abv, although it feels bigger. It’s available locally (K&L and Costco) but I don’t think I need any more than the remaining bottles I have.

Been enjoying another of the 2015 version of this the last few nights, and it really does have a noticeable grapefruit like pith bitter edge to it. If one likes Campari cocktails or San Pellegrino Arranciata sodas – my SO loves both – this would be a good one to try.

I finally tried the 2014 Guigal ‘rouge’ [CdR] yesterday. It’s ok, a little underwhelming compared to other years. I like the blanc better in this vintage.

The last couple of nights I’ve been sipping on the 16 Guigal ‘blanc’ [Cotes du Rhone] with some pork in a korma sauce. These wines go well with Indian food, I feel. Medium bodied, great verve, and a nose of cut white pears, lychees. I like it better than the 2015 version. These have dropped in price ever so slightly at our Costco, down to $11 and that’s a great deal for crisp Viognier. This gets an A- in my ledger.

Coincidently, my wife and I had the 2016 Guigal Cote du Rhone Blanc last night with a Gunpowder Masala Dosa, Coconut Milk Chicken Biryani and Lamb Xacuti. Good match, and I love the texture of this wine and the pear and almond flavours, though I find myself wishing for a touch of acidity.

17 will show more acidity, 16 is just vintage showing thru.

That sounds like a great combo - crispy dosa and this zippy wine. I made kind of soggy ones a while ago. It’s hard to get this correct as a home chef, without a gigantic hot griddle. Somewhere in the first few pix I have a pic of my sad attempt.

I think the Guigal CdR blanc is something I should just buy a few bottles of every year. I like the house style, and that is not so plentiful, unlike their rouge which is going to be served everywhere.