2003 E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone

[brappy]

I don't know??..... I started this one off with a double-decant. So maybe I cheated, but I'm too impatient to wait for the tannins to soften up. The bottle has been open(and I've had 2 glasses by now) for 1 and 1/2 hrs. The nose is progressing nicely. At first the nose was a bit muted, but now the fruit is coming along with black or/and blue fruits. It seems the grenache is what's holding this wine together.

The palate has come around also. Also full of dark fruits. Some of the Syrah is peeking out but again it's the grenache that's coming through. The front palate is still not really there but the mid and back are great. It's the back palate the syrah is really peeking its head out.

I never did get the "Tart" thing, but I only took a small taste before decanting. so decanting may have cleared that up. The tannins have softened, but are still gripping. I can't help but think this wine will go some distance. In fact, I believe maybe 7 to 10 yrs, but that's just a guess.

I can't say that the wine is overhyped but I don't know how much "hyping" was done. The sad thing is, a lot of the guys/gals overhyping any wine, whether right or wrong, don't have the foggiest clue in what's going on with the wine they're overhyping. I tasted this once before with a rep who brought it in the restaurant. She told me the "scores"; opened up the bottle and poured. I thought the tannins were going to rip the top of my mouth right off. I asked her about the tannins and the look on her face was pure confusion. Very frustrating....

Oh well..... try the wine out again if you feel like it, but I'm going hold a few bottles just to test my aging theory. BTW, in the time it took me to type this (while watching a movie), the syrah is much more pronounced. The wine is very enjoyable, especially at $13.

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