TN: 83 Guigal Cote Rotie B&B - Wow!

WINE TALK
1

Over the past decade, the most deeply satisfying old wines I’ve had have been from Barolo and the Northern Rhone. Only the occasional Burgundy has sung for me, and even fewer Bordeaux. I’ve drunk more nebbiolos in recent years than syrahs, but I’ve had a remarkable string of older Rhones in the last month. First, I opened a 91 Chave Hermitage at Mark and Karrie Russo’s (TN: 91 Chave Hermitage - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). Then a friend served me a 90 Chave last weekend, which was also a treat – a touch riper than the 01 but maybe just a little less refined.

Tonight a guest at my brown bag group handed off a bottle of the 83 Guigal Cote Rotie Brune & Blonde to our host to carry and then couldn’t make it. What a gift!

This was shaken up on a long subway ride from Wall Street to the Upper West Side and still had oodles of sediment when it was decanted, so it was a bit murky when it was first poured. I guessed Burgundy at first, for it had an earthiness and a brightness to the fruits, which were at the red end of the scale. But after it settled down a bit in the glass, syrah suddenly popped out: that classic violets note. In the mouth, this was juicy, fruity and rich. A ripe year, clearly, and I said it had to be an Hermitage because it was too refined for a Cornas and too masculine and powerful for a Cote Rotie. I guessed an 89 Hermitage, based on the freshness and ripeness of the fruit, though plainly is was not a Chave.

What a surprise to find this was an 83 C-R. I finished my last bottle of this a dozen a years ago, at which point it was thinning noticeably. This had an East Coast importer’s sticker, and must have been a different lot altogether from the ones I bought in San Francisco in the mid-80s, imported by Grape Expectations. Even my 83 Guigal Hermitages were never this full-bodied. I’ve had more than my share of 83 Northern Rhones that were emaciated, with their fruit dried out and only the acid showing. This was everything I hoped the vintage could be when I first tasted through the vintage with Claude Kolm when they arrived.

I can only imagine how grand this would be if it hadn’t been shaken up and cloudy with sediment. As it was, it was 93/94 for me – true, classic Cote Rotie.

Sadly, the Guigal B&B today is nothing like this. The 98 I had a week or two ago was pleasant, but chunky, a bit too extracted, and rustic – no finesse at all.

2

I rummaged around to find notes from the last time I tasted this, which turned out to be six years ago. That bottle, too, had wonderful aromas and was quite full bodied, but my notes say that the fruit was drying out toward the back and and the acid was a little too prominent, so it was a bit disappointing. It was certainly nothing like the bottle I had this week. I’d had that bottle since release in 1986, though it may have had a couple of years of not-so-great storage here in NYC.

3

I had this 4-5 years ago, also sourced in SF, and found it overtly smoky and a bit charred. It was at a predominately burg dinner and stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb. An '85, at the same dinner, was more balanced with good fruit and balance.

4

Most of the bottles of 85 Guigal that I had were better than the 83s I’d bought – richer, fruitier and better balanced – but none was as good as the 83 I had this week. I opened the last of my 85s (also purchased in the Bay Area on release) in 2001. My notes say “fabulous funky syrah nose; very full-bodied and fruit, but less interesting in the mouth.”

5

Guigal had much better fruit in his older B&B’s. The past decade or so, many of the growers in Cote Rotie have put their best fruit into their own labels instead of selling to Guigal.

6

Guigal had much better fruit in his older B&B’s. The past decade or so, many of the growers in Cote Rotie have put their best fruit into their own labels instead of selling to Guigal.

I find this kind of claim so amazing!!!
Did you spend a lot of your time in the Cote Rotie vineyards in may and june to check if the growers who still sell grapes to guigal are poor viticulturists? Or do you assumme that if they didn’t want to go on their own making wine they are poor viticulturists. Or do you just don’t want to explore the hypothesis that Guigal changed a lot in terms of style and winemaking after Etienne Guigal’s death? And that his total production of Côte Rôtie is more than 4 times what it used to be in 1983
A guy like Noel Avallet, picking one among at least 15 -20 of the same kind, is one of the very best growers you can meet on the Côte Rôtie slopes these days. Walking in his vines in june or jully 2008, and comparing their health, yield and aspect with the ones belonging to his very well known neighbours was enlightening. And if you dare spending a little bit more time enquiring about these careful and gifted growers that still sell their grapes to the negociant because they don’t feel like making wine, selling it to people that will assume in first place that they are probably jerk because they spent 20 years selling grapes to Guigal, you’ll see easily that your opinion might be romantic or satisfying for the geeks community ego but far from being the truth…
And can you explore the idea that winemaking has nothing to do with vine growing and that, in many cases, real peasants for whom vinegrowing is very often only a small part of their farmer job, are usually the best growers and don’t necessary have the extrovert nature needed to please the customers in today’s wine world.
I bet a Marius Gentaz or a Joseph Trollat would probably sell their grapes to Guigal if they had to make and sell wine these days.

Eric Texier

7

Consistent with my recollections over many years. This wine always had a lot of glycerine and class for a wine at it’s price point… and they were so so yummy when younger, wished I would have had the discipline to hold on to one or more…

8

I don’t know that you’re right on that. The production figures reinforce what Eric says (and he should know): that Guigal has no problems getting fruit. Guigal still bottles a quarter or so of all Cote Rotie, and it’s not like there have been a lot of good new producers popping up in recent decades – certainly no one producing anything remotely like the quantity that Guigal does. He bottles about 20,000 cases of the B&B alone (http://www.guigal.com/vins_detail.php?langue=en&rub=4&id=49&millesime=8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), which is roughly 20% of the crop.

The other factor apart from changes in winemaking (which I’ll have to take Eric’s word on) is the creation of the Ch. d’Ampuis bottling, to which I presume Guigal diverts many of the best barrels. That’s 3,000 cases that presumably would have gone into the B&B in the old days.

9

I’ve had this wine half a dozen times or so, and it has ranged from terrific to average-plus. The last two bottles I’ve had were in that category, but I didn’t note the importers on any of them.

I’ve always assumed that the decline in the B&B was connected with the fact that the '83 was the last B&B released from a great vintage before La Turque’s debut in 1985.

10

Craig – There are various lots of B&B, and it is not all bottled at the same time. That goes a long way to explain the variation that you have noticed.

The acquisition of La Turque in 1985 had no effect on the quality of the B&B. La Turque was a particular vineyard that Guigal acquired when it acquired Vidal-Fleurie (the previous owner of La Turque), and so there was no La Turque juice diverted from the B&B to a separate bottling.

11

Quote:
Guigal had much better fruit in his older B&B’s. The past decade or so, many of the growers in Cote Rotie have put their best fruit into their own labels instead of selling to Guigal.



I find this kind of claim so amazing!!!
Did you spend a lot of your time in the Cote Rotie vineyards in may and june to check if the growers who still sell grapes to guigal are poor viticulturists? Or do you assumme that if they didn’t want to go on their own making wine they are poor viticulturists. Or do you just don’t want to explore the hypothesis that Guigal changed a lot in terms of style and winemaking after Etienne Guigal’s death? And that his total production of Côte Rôtie is more than 4 times what it used to be in 1983
A guy like Noel Avallet, picking one among at least 15 -20 of the same kind, is one of the very best growers you can meet on the Côte Rôtie slopes these days. Walking in his vines in june or jully 2008, and comparing their health, yield and aspect with the ones belonging to his very well known neighbours was enlightening. And if you dare spending a little bit more time enquiring about these careful and gifted growers that still sell their grapes to the negociant because they don’t feel like making wine, selling it to people that will assume in first place that they are probably jerk because they spent 20 years selling grapes to Guigal, you’ll see easily that your opinion might be romantic or satisfying for the geeks community ego but far from being the truth…
And can you explore the idea that winemaking has nothing to do with vine growing and that, in many cases, real peasants for whom vinegrowing is very often only a small part of their farmer job, are usually the best growers and don’t necessary have the extrovert nature needed to please the customers in today’s wine world.
I bet a Marius Gentaz or a Joseph Trollat would probably sell their grapes to Guigal if they had to make and sell wine these days.

Eric Texier

I’ll have to defer to you on this. For my part, I’ve heard this from several people who’s palates I respect and trust and who visit Cote Rotie often. I’ve also had many of Guigals B&B’s over the years as well, and prefer the earlier wines. If my information is incorrect then I’m happy to be corrected.

12

I didn’t know that. Thanks!

13

Drinking a 1997 B&B tonight, and while it is not setting the world on fire it is awfully, awfully charming and enjoyable.

And how cool is it that Eric Texier is weighing in here, bravo!

14

Time to sacrifice my last bottle , I guess. The last experience I had, in 2005…wasn’t great…especially after buying it on release and waiting. But, I am also not a big fan of CR, I think.

15

I served the 83 and 85 double blind at a poker event at my house last June and both wines were stunningly good. I slightly preferred the 85 but the rest of the gang leaned toward the 83.

1983 Guigal Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde. The bouquet of this wine is wildly complex and engaging. Aromas of smoky honeyed BBQ sauce, dark lilac and violets, worn horse bridle leather, loamy dirt, iodine and steel fold themselves in and around the full aromas of black raspberry and black cherry fruit. Over time, even more layers pile on top, with cool scents of hardened bacon fat, cracked black pepper and dark animal fur coming on. It is really a wine to sit and savor and ponder over. In the mouth, it is quite savory—with flavors of bacon bits, black olives and chalky black bean paste running ahead of the dark cool fruit. It features firm acidity and a tensile structure at first, but that slowly yields to allow a greater volume of fruit and dimension to come forward. The softening finish shows great balance, with just the tiniest bit of ghost tannins hanging around. I think this can go a while, but it is really wonderful to drink right now. It tied for #2 group Wine of the Night.

1985 Guigal Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde. This wine seems fresher and racier on the nose, where horsehide, earthy ferns, ash, baked ham, smoked game and jalapeno aromas ride atop a sweeter core of dark cherry gelato fruit that gains in plushness the longer one stays with it. In the mouth, this shows outstanding balance throughout, with a fine consistent push of intense flavor density. It is dark-fruited and still feels rather fresh and driven. Some fatter, sweeter notes sneak in beneath all that and take this to another dimension. It is an extremely fine package that also features some smoked ham notes on a tingly yet rich and fulfilling finish. It was my wine of the flight by a very slight margin over the 1983, but I was alone in that regard.

-Michael