Guigal Condrieu 2019
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
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Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Brilliant pale gold. The perfume (you can only call it that) has intense notes of violets, apricot, white peach, and citrus. Fresh and round on the palate, you feel the fat, the richness, yet the wine is so intensely dry and mineral. A harmony between freshness and fleshy roundness. A remarkable minerality.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The base Condrieu from Guigal always delivers and the 2019 Condrieu is stunning stuff, giving up a beautiful bouquet of ripe nectarines, orange blossom, honeysuckle, and exotic flowers. Just classic Condrieu in every way, it's medium to full-bodied, with remarkable purity, a fleshy opulence, and a great, clean finish. Readers looking for a textbook Condrieu can't go wrong with this. It should keep for 7-8 years, although I always prefer these wines in their first 4-5 years of the vintage.
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Wine Enthusiast
Notes of candied grapefruit peel, lilac and apricot perfume this bright, sunny Viognier. While fermented and matured in one-third new oak, it balances smoky, spicy, vanilla-cream richness well against pristine tangerine and white-peach flavors, with an invigorating lift of tangerine acidity on the finish. Delicious young, the wine should gain honeyed nuances through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Guigal's 2019 Condrieu features effusive floral aromas, followed by precise, chiseled notes of apricot and pineapple. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, plump and generous, with a silky texture and hints of ginger and white pepper on the lengthy finish.
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The Guigal domain was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in the ancient village of Ampuis, home of the wines of the Côte-Rôtie. In these vineyards that are over 2400 years old, you can still see the small terraced walls characteristic of the Roman period. Etienne Guigal arrived in this region in 1923 at the age of 14. He made wine for over 67 vintages and, at the beginning of his career, participated in the development of the Vidal-Fleury establishment.
Despite his young age, Marcel Guigal took over from his father in 1961 when the latter was victim to a brutal illness rendering him blind. Marcel's hard work and perseverance enabled the Guigals to buy out Vidal-Fleury in 1984, although the establishment retains its own identity and commercial autonomy. In 2000, the Guigals purchased the Jean-Louis Grippat estate in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage, as well as the Domaine de Vallouit in Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage.
In the cellars of the Guigal estate in Ampuis, the northern appellations of the Rhône Valley are produced and aged. These are the appellations of Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. The great appellations of the Southern Rhône, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Tavel and Côtes-du-Rhône, are also aged in the Ampuis cellars.
Full-figured and charmingly floral, Viognier is one of the most important white grapes of the northern Rhône where it is used both to produce single varietal wines and as an important blending grape. Look for great New World examples from California, Oregon, Washington and cooler parts of Australia. Somm Secret—Viognier plays a surprisingly important role in the red wines of Côte Rôtie in the northern Rhône. About 5% Viognier is typically co-fermented with the Syrah in order to stabilize the color, and as an added benefit, add a subtle perfume.
As the source of some of the most vibrant and powerful white wines in France, Condrieu is uniquely situated in one of the northern outposts of the Rhone River. It is the original Viognier appellation with a wine growing history reaching back well over two thousand years. Like most of the wine regions of the Northern Rhone, Condrieu’s vines grow on extremely steep and narrow granite terraces. But what makes the region unique is a topsoil, locally called, “arzelle,” made of decomposed mica. This and a sheltering of the harsh northern winds, make optimal sites to produce opulent and brilliant Viognier. It is a tiny zone with no room for expansion and produces miniscule amounts of wine each year, contributing to its allure.
A fine Condrieu will have aromas and flavors suggestive of ripe stone fruit, lime peel, green almond, ginger, white flowers and toasted nuts. A honeyed smell may mislead you to think the wine will be sweet but the modern style favors totally dry on the palate. Its texture will be full and soft but a touch of mineral will provide great balance.