Well, about one year after our last bottle of this wine I remain perplexed about it. I’m not sure if it’s that I don’t care for Northern Rhone-style syrah, or if this wine remains somewhat shut down even after just about three years in the cellar, or if there’s something off about it. At any rate, it’s something other than what I’d gathered from RP’s and Josh Raynolds’ reviews.
RP used words like “sumptuous”, “beautifully textured”, “full” and “long” to describe it, while Josh said that it was “textbook Northern Rhone syrah” with an “explosive bouquet” and “sweet underbrush quality remeniscent of Morey-Saint-Denis”. Well, I’m also not familiar enough with Burgundy to judge that last comment.
But our first few bottles were harsh, thin, and acidic, with bitter tannins and a short finish. OK, it’s shut down.
Then from the other night:
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2003 E. Guigal Crozes-Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage (6/3/2009)
Well, I suppose this wine is going in the right direction… I also wonder if stylistic issues might be playing a role in my ongoing problem with this wine. Although decanted for a bit over an hour, the wine was somewhat unforthcoming with its nose. It had a quality of fruit and mineral-like scents that, for me, sometimes fall on the side being of enjoyable – fruit and minerals – but it walked a very thin line in threatening to become somewhat like beets, and with a vegetal quality. I’ve had a few wines with this particular “beet” nose, and I find it utterly off-putting. The Guigal was right on that border, with some darker undercurrents in the nose as well that I couldn’t identify (probably the ‘tampenade’ and ‘underbrush’ of my previous TN). On the plus side, the palate has filled out some, the acid is better integrated although the overall effect is that the fruit is not sweet and the mineral component predominates, and the finish has definitely improved. So it was a very good wine in the sense that I’ll take this over most plonk any day. Is it just too old world for me? Don’t know. I’ll wait some more before the next one, since the curve is still up. Heck, maybe tasting it with Keith Levenberg would be instructive in that regard…
(Wine stored optimally since purchase on release) (88 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
I should say that I most remember that awful “beet” nose from an inexpensive Southern Rhone wine I bought from Garagiste some time ago. One of the most god-awful wines I’ve ever had the misfortune to taste, it was the 2001 Mas St. Joseph Costieres-de-Nimes C. Aventure. About six bottles, all the same, just hideous. Beets, beets, vegetables, and more beets.
Well, what’s my problem here? Any traditionalist terroiristes care to chime in? Berate my New World Order palate? I’ll take all comers. 