Hello all

New member to the group here. Been enjoying wine for about six years,
and have moved from the low-priced category into the midrange to
upper-middle range over the past six months or so.

My latest wine worth mentioning was the 2001 E. Guigal
Chateuneuf-du-Pape. This was my first CNP, and I was very impressed. I
don't consider myself an expert so I won't delve into tasting notes,
though I do have a question.

How does this stack up to typical CNPs, if there is such a thing?
Complexity, relatively slow development of nose, and low tannin being
the key aspects I found.

I'm looking forward to trying more.

-ben

"Ben Snyder" > skrev i melding
...
> Hello all
>
> New member to the group here. Been enjoying wine for about six years, and
> have moved from the low-priced category into the midrange to upper-middle
> range over the past six months or so.
>
Welcome,
it's always nice to have new people around. There have been some brats
lately, but the majority of us are quite nice and helpful people and I'm
sure someone will answer your question :-)
Anders

Ben Snyder > wrote in
:

> Hello all
>
> New member to the group here. Been enjoying wine for about six years,
> and have moved from the low-priced category into the midrange to
> upper-middle range over the past six months or so.
>
> My latest wine worth mentioning was the 2001 E. Guigal
> Chateuneuf-du-Pape. This was my first CNP, and I was very impressed.
I
> don't consider myself an expert so I won't delve into tasting notes,
> though I do have a question.
>
> How does this stack up to typical CNPs, if there is such a thing?
> Complexity, relatively slow development of nose, and low tannin being
> the key aspects I found.
>
> I'm looking forward to trying more.
>
> -ben
>

In my experience Guigal CdP is good but unexceptional I have found more
complexity in even some similarly priced versions from other merchants.
(Note Guigal is a grower in the north of the Rhone, but in CdP they are
a negociant, they buy it and make or bottle as their own (look at the
label you will see mis en bouteille or some other discriptor to tell you
what the label name's relationship is to the wine.)

--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

Ben Snyder wrote:
> Hello all
>
> New member to the group here. Been enjoying wine for about six years,
> and have moved from the low-priced category into the midrange to
> upper-middle range over the past six months or so.
>
> My latest wine worth mentioning was the 2001 E. Guigal
> Chateuneuf-du-Pape. This was my first CNP, and I was very impressed. I
> don't consider myself an expert so I won't delve into tasting notes,
> though I do have a question.
>
> How does this stack up to typical CNPs, if there is such a thing?
> Complexity, relatively slow development of nose, and low tannin being
> the key aspects I found.

Hello, Ben, and welcome to our (usually) happy little corner of Usenet.
As Jospeh said, Guigal is a highly respected producer of Cote-Rotie in
the Nothern Rhone Valley who buys grapes from CNdP and makes wine from
them (i.e., acts as an eleveur-negociant). As such his CNdPs are rarely
at the top rank, but are usually very decent examples. In 2000, Guigal
produced what I think was his best CNdP of the past decade (at least).
One other attribute: his CNdPs are cheaper than many of the top
domaines'. FWIW, here are my favorites: Vieux Telegraphe, Le Vieux
Donjon, Dom. du Pegau, Clos des Papes, Dom. de Marcoux and La Nerthe.
(Ch. de Beaucastel may be the most famous and one of the priciest, but
it is atypical for the region -- however I rank it as one of the top
domaines, too)

2001 was the last of a string of 4 successful vintages there, and is a
"classic" year (good acidity and the potential for improving with age
for 10-20 years). CNdP is also known for "shutting down" from age 5-8
or so, so some of the 2001s are no longer so pleasant to drink as they
once were (this seems to be less true now than it was 10 years ago,
though). If you can find some of the top 2001s, put them away for
awhile and see what they become. FWIW, I like drinking them with game
birds, rabbit, venison, etc.

HTH
Mark Lipton

In article 36>,
Joseph Coulter > wrote:

> Ben Snyder > wrote in
> :
>
> > Hello all
> >
> > New member to the group here. Been enjoying wine for about six years,
> > and have moved from the low-priced category into the midrange to
> > upper-middle range over the past six months or so.
> >
> > My latest wine worth mentioning was the 2001 E. Guigal
> > Chateuneuf-du-Pape. This was my first CNP, and I was very impressed.
> I
> > don't consider myself an expert so I won't delve into tasting notes,
> > though I do have a question.
> >
> > How does this stack up to typical CNPs, if there is such a thing?
> > Complexity, relatively slow development of nose, and low tannin being
> > the key aspects I found.
> >
> > I'm looking forward to trying more.
> >
> > -ben
> >
>
> In my experience Guigal CdP is good but unexceptional I have found more
> complexity in even some similarly priced versions from other merchants.
> (Note Guigal is a grower in the north of the Rhone, but in CdP they are
> a negociant, they buy it and make or bottle as their own (look at the
> label you will see mis en bouteille or some other discriptor to tell you
> what the label name's relationship is to the wine.)

I have found a mixed bag in CdP's over the years. I love Rhone wines and
much is dependent on the vintage and the time in bottle. The dumb phase
is not always predictable but with sufficient opening time many are
ready even from dumb periods. Guigal is often more tannic from my
perspective and may need more time. Beaucastle and Chapoutier also tend
to be more tannic and need a lot more time but are worth the effort
though the price is less than agreeable.