Guigal Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde 2016
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James
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Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Dark ruby red. Spices, red berries and delicate oak aromas. Round soft tannins. Aromas of raspberry, blackberry and vanilla. Balance between scarcely perceptible acidity and tannins which add ageing potential and softened by long ageing in oak.
Pairs well with small game, red meat and cheese.
Blend: 96 % Syrah, 4% Viognier
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A terrific range of spice and fragrance that really defines great Côte-Rôtie. The fruit is in the fresh red-plum and dark-berry zone and there’s dark chocolate here, too. The palate has a very supple, smooth delivery of sturdy yet fine tannins and a powerful, focused finish. Drink over the next decade or more.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Côte Rôtie Brune Et Blonde is more elegant and seamless, which is the style of the vintage. Pretty notes of cassis, flowers, wet granite, and hints of peppery herbs all flow to a medium to full-bodied Côte Rôtie that has fine tannins and outstanding balance. It’s a beautiful, classic wine from the vintage to enjoy over the coming 10-15 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Bottled just a few weeks prior to my visit, the 2016 Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde is a classic, typical representation of the appellation and the vintage. It's wiry and lithe, fresh and vibrant, with intriguing herbal-floral nuances and tart red fruit flavors. Medium to full-bodied, it's silky and charming already, with the ability to drink well for up to a decade.
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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.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
The cultivation of vines here began with Greek settlers who arrived in 600 BC. Its proximity to Vienne was important then and also when that city became a Roman settlement but its situation, far from the negociants of Tain, led to its decline in more modern history. However the 1990s brought with it a revival fueled by one producer, Marcel Guigal, who believed in the zone’s potential. He, along with the critic, Robert Parker, are said to be responsible for the zone’s later 20th century renaissance.
Where the Rhone River turns, there is a build up of schist rock and a remarkable angle that produces slopes to maximize the rays of the sun. Cote Rotie remains one of the steepest in viticultural France. Its varied slopes have two designations. Some are dedicated as Côte Blonde and others as Côte Brune. Syrahs coming from Côte Blonde are lighter, more floral, and ready for earlier consumption—they can also include up to 20% of the highly scented Viognier. Those from Côte Brune are more sturdy, age-worthy and are typically nearly 100% Syrah. Either way, a Cote Rotie is going to have a particularly haunting and savory perfume, expressing a more feminine side of the northern Rhone.