TN: 1999 Guigal Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde

Dave_Grudzinski · August 28, 2009, 2:19pm

1999 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (8/17/2009)
The cork is perfect. Deep crimson color. Bacon fat aromas are instantly recognized, then red berries, glycerine, burnt matchstick and a hint of caramel. Fine & elegant texture, racy, good extract for such a lightish body. This is not an “in your face” wine, rather it invites you to search for nuances. Some red currants, wild strawberries, cumin, hints of minerals dancing. Not especially structured and the finish is a bit short. What tannins are noticeable are very fine. Lovely wine. I think it is at it’s peak but should drink well for some time. (92 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

I’ve had some disappointing bottles of the B&B from other vintages recently, but this '99 was great. I just love the 1999 vintage in Cote-Rotie and most of the wines are really drinking well. Cheers!

mike.m · August 28, 2009, 2:56pm

Thanks for the note Dave, I had the 2000 recently and it was showing well and ready to drink based off that bottle.

2000 guigal cote rotie - dirty and funky on the nose, black cherry and plums, big and complex. drinking pretty well and based on this bottle, no need to age it much longer

Dave_Grudzinski · August 28, 2009, 3:18pm

Another beauty from 1999 I had recently:

1999 Pierre Gaillard Côte-Rôtie Viallieres - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (7/30/2009)
Bacon fat aroma hits you right away, raspberries and smokey nose. Elegant, rich and long, silky, bacon and black raspberry fruit, some sage on the palate. Tannins are barely noticeable, seems mature. Textbook Cote-Rotie and just a lovely wine. (94 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Nigel_Groundwater · August 28, 2009, 5:16pm

I have a case of this [the 2000] about half finished and have been somewhat disappointed with what I felt was a lack of structure and stuffing. My wine has some of the cherry and plums you reference and even the lightest scent of bacon and currants but only a light funk and certainly not ‘dirty’ - if my interpretation [not negative] of what you mean by that is correct.

Certainly ready it is a nice wine and easy to drink but not as good as other vintages I have had although there has been some variability there too. It was expensive for what it is although I have had bigger disappointments.

John_Cabot · August 28, 2009, 6:01pm

The 99 vintage was a good one indeed up the north. Balance and power.

mike.m · August 29, 2009, 3:42am

Nigel Groundwater:

mike.m:

Thanks for the note Dave, I had the 2000 recently and it was showing well and ready to drink based off that bottle.

2000 guigal cote rotie - dirty and funky on the nose, black cherry and plums, big and complex. drinking pretty well and based on this bottle, no need to age it much longer

I have a case of this [the 2000] about half finished and have been somewhat disappointed with what I felt was a lack of structure and stuffing. My wine has some of the cherry and plums you reference and even the lightest scent of bacon and currants but only a light funk and certainly not ‘dirty’ - if my interpretation [not negative] of what you mean by that is correct.

Certainly ready it is a nice wine and easy to drink but not as good as other vintages I have had although there has been some variability there too. It was expensive for what it is although I have had bigger disappointments.

The bottle that we had was definitely funky on the nose. Kind of an earthy sweaty thing. I don’t think it was a negative on the wine, just some complexity.