1999 Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde

[joeyz6]

Exquisite wine, one of the best I've had in recent memory, with a supple finesse and a wonderful complexity of flavors. Fruit, spice, minerals, it's all there, and it's balanced. Fills your mouth and stays for a great, long finish. 17 E for a half-bottle at the restaurant (the Brasserie Flo in Toulouse, a very good place!).

[winoweenie]

Hi agin' there Joey-lucky-stiff! Guigal is IMHO one of the great producers of the Rhone, If you go back you'll find lots of posts on his juice from Moi'.He was the first producer I discovered from the Rhone back in the 70s and his stuff is well-represented in the cellar. I'll wait awhilst to open the 99. Looks like you've been a bizzy-feller lately. Have fun and keep the posts coming. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[joeyz6]

Hi WW. Yeah, before posting this I checked the old Guigal threads to make sure there wasn't already a thread for this wine, and I stumbled across your previous Guigal notes. Your description of the 1978 Brune et Blonde made my mouth water! I had never heard of Guigal before seeing it No. 1 on the WS list recently. Now I'm intrigued. I am hoping to get to Ampuis in April to visit the Chateau, if visits are allowed, that is. Anyone ever been there?

[Kcwhippet]

Have a few of the 98. Opened one last year just to see what it was doing and decided the rest should rest undisturbed for at least a few.

[winoweenie]

Yeppo Joey. Guigal has been one of the two top producers in the Rhone for many years. Besides his estate wines he is also one of the largest negotients in the area. His La Ladonne, La Mouline, and La Turque single vineyard bottlings bring 1st growth prices and are a whale of a lot harder to come by.In better vintages it is normal for his wines to take 20+ to flesh out. His Hermitages, Cornas, Gigondas, and even his cotes are always close to the top rung of the ladder. Also makes a Killer (GASP) Vigonier I've been told(blush).WW