Perhaps these photos give you some insight into our thoughts?
Many restaurants in Paris have taken to pairing Condrieu with Foie Gras. The “umami” texture of the Condrieu plays with the richness of the foie gras, and while Condrieu does not have high acid to cut through the fat, something about the way it finishes so bone-rattlingly dry freshens everything up.
We wanted to give a sense of where (and why) Guigal grows and buys fruit for its Crozes-Hermitage, so we created this little narrated tour on Google Earth.
Click on the picture below to spend a few minutes exploring the Northern Rhone Valley! You will need Google Earth to run the file, which takes about 10 seconds to download and install, here.
A great milestone for everyone involved was the 20th Anniversary of the Hospice du Rhone Grand Tasting on April 28. An article popped up two weeks back with a great story on the Hospice. John Alban, cult producer of Rhone varieties in the US, describes how the quality of the wines poured has built up the Hospice du Rhone event. The article states: “Perhaps the most dramatic example of the quality that keeps Hospice du Rhoners coming back, and attracts new ones, is the E. Guigal Tasting Seminar led by Philippe Guigal in 2008. It was a remarkable tasting of nine wines, including the famous “La La’s. Making this seminar happen was no small feat. John told me it took the most years and the most trips to France of any he’s produced.”
The article continues: “In his opening comments at the seminar, Philippe Guigal spoke with amusement about how he reached his decision to put on a tasting at Hospice du Rhone. He and John Alban were in an elevator in France, leaving a venue after yet more discussions. Alban reached over and pushed the emergency stop button. “We’re not leaving the elevator,” Alban told him, “until we come to an agreement on when you’re coming to Hospice du Rhone.” Smiling, Philippe said, “I think he may have been serious.” It’s almost unbelievable. How does Philippe Guigal wind up in Paso Robles pouring hundreds of bottles of wine that people are on a waiting list to purchase for huge amounts of money? And he’s there giving them away and talking about them at Hospice du Rhone. Just that phenomenon right there show’s there’s a certain lunacy to all this.”
To read the full article click here.
Philippe Guigal discusses the 2009 vintage and the vititculture and vinification of the Guigal Cotes du Rhone 2009. Filmed in the fall of 2011, at the time of the first Cotes du Rhone 2009 bottling.
Super tasting in Miami yesterday!
The Wine & Spirits 2012 Restaurant Poll was just released, and Guigal and Tommasi have made a very strong showing this year! Guigal was named the #1 Rhone Brand and #11 French Brand, with Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône appearing as their top wine wines in the survey. Tommasi was named the #1 Veneto Brand and #13 Italian Brand, with their Amarone Classico and Poggio Al Tufo Cabernet Sauvignon most represented on restaurants lists. Take a look!
In the video below you can see a November visit to Guigal and tasting of their just-now released Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2006. In the video Philippe Guigal discusses the wine, and also describes it in context of its two surrounding vintages, 2005 and 2007. The wine is seductively pure and precise, with lovely, detailed fruits and spice while offering tremendous pleasure and beautiful concentration.
You may have seen Jay McInerney’s article on Cote-Rotie this weekend in the Wall Street Journal – tremendous coverage of Guigal in the largest circulation newspaper in the US. Philippe Guigal is quoted, there is background on the Guigal family’s role in Cote-Rotie’s development after WWII, the lead photo is Chateau d’Ampuis, and a number of Guigal wines are mentioned or featured (the La Las – “They are extraordinary and I wish I got to drink them more often; 2006 Guigal Brune et Blonde – “It’s hard not to love the ripe raspberry fruit of this wine, which also has a nice hint of smoky bacon in the middle.”).
We love the enthusiasm for Cote-Rotie best of all. The article is below or can be seen here.
The Bacony Goodness of Côte-Rôtie
One morning after waking up on a friend’s couch following a night of plentiful wine, I was sharing breakfast with my host and his 4-year-old son, who broke the silence by asking—or, as it seemed to me, shrieking—”Dad, is there anybody who doesn’t like bacon?” “That’s a good question,” replied the father thoughtfully, pronging another strip of the good stuff.
E. Guigal
TOAST TO THE ROASTED SLOPE: Côte-Rôtie’s Château d’Ampuis
I’ve subsequently recalled this moment many times when enjoying a glass of Côte-Rôtie, which almost inevitably evokes bacon, and even its boon companion, coffee. I suppose it’s possible some might not like this Northern Rhône Syrah, just as some may be immune to the charms of bacon, but I can’t help feeling a little sorry for anyone afflicted with these particular forms of anhedonia. Sure, Côte-Rôtie has its sensitive, vegan, botanical side—raspberry fruit, herbal and floral notes—but a really good one inevitably has me repeating the bacon-bacon-bacon mantra, like the dog in that ad for Beggin’ Strips.
A mouthwatering read – on MSNBC’s Bites Blog, Ray Isle of Food & Wine Magazine goes through a range of burgers and wine pairings. His intro the Bacon Cheeseburger is very funny (“When I think of Heaven, I think of St. Peter at the pearly gates saying hello, and then some guy with wings next to him handing me a really good bacon cheeseburger”), and he chooses Guigal Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2007 as the pairing wine. Sounds pretty great! Whole article is here.
Burgers and Wine: A Match Made in Heaven
Ray Isle, Executive Wine Editor, Food & Wine Magazine
There’s a useful wine-pairing bit of advice which runs, “It’s not the meat, it’s the sauce.” What that means is when you’ve got a chunk of protein in front of you—unless you prefer your meat a la Cro Magnon, i.e. rare and dripping with blood—you’re most likely pairing wine to the sauce or condiments on it as much as the meat itself. In other words, smother a chicken with mushroom-cream sauce, and you’ve got a whole different wine situation than if you take the bird, dip it in sriracha, and roast it on a bed of limes (admittedly, I’ve never done that and it would probably taste godawful, but you get the idea). Same goes for burgers.
Bacon cheeseburger
When I think of Heaven, I think of St. Peter at the pearly gates saying hello, and then some guy with wings next to him handing me a really good bacon cheeseburger (admittedly, I’m taking a different bus to the afterlife than the vegetarians of the world). What I’d drink with that, wine-wise, would be something with some pretty substantial tannins, which will help cut through all that bacon-cheese-beef fat. Côtes du Rhône from France: not a bad choice at all. Go for the 2007 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône rouge ($13).
Vinography writes up the Wine & Spirits Top 100 tasting, always as super tasting with so many amazing wines. Among the top whites, Alder Yarrow points to Guigal Condrieu La Doriane 2009, with a great finishing line in his comments.
2009 E. Guigal La Doriane, Condrieu, Rhone Valley, France
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells of beautiful peaches and candied lemons. In the mouth juicy lemon and honey flavors hang suspended in a thick satin stream of texture on the palate. After peach is added to the mix the wine turns decidedly spicy as it lingers through a long finish that gives the impression, if nothing else, that this is what gold would taste like if it were possible.
And including among the top reds is Quinta do Noval’s Douro 2008. Alas, no review.
Full piece here:
http://www.vinography.com/archives/2011/10/whats_your_best_wine_tasting_t.html