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Une Petite Bloody Pulpit:
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This wine tasting was held at one of my favorite restaurants in SantaFe,
315, formerly Bistro 315. Chef/owner Louis Moskow runs a pretty traditional
French- bistro restaurant and does a very good job with the wine. He's
been doing a series of wine seminars for the last year. This Guigal Cote-Rotie
seminar was hosted by Pierre Serronde, affectionately known as Pierre LaGrande
because of his stature. He owns the distributing company Vins de la Serpette
that handles the Classic Wine Imports and Ex-Cellars who bring in the Guigal
wines. I have had over the yrs maybe 6-8 of the Guigal LaLas, but never
a horizontal at one time. Quite an experience. Louis prepared small appetizer
plates to accompany all the Guigal wines. They were all extraordinarily
done and matched well the Syrahs. I was worried that some of them might
negatively impact the wines, but such was not the case. Kudos to Louis.
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The BetB's are the "bottom"-of-the-line Guigal C-R. The Ampuis is a blend
positioned betwixt the BetB and the LaLas. The BetB's were the epitome
of CR w/ their classic roasted/espresso character. Both very elegant in
character and a genuine delight to drink. The Amp, though more intense,
to me had the CR/roasted pretty well bludgeoned by new/toasty/Fr.oak, very
Calif/international in style. At around $85/btl, I can think of dozens
of Calif Syrahs I prefer at half to third the price. The LaLas were all
very Calif/international in style w/ loads of blackberry/Syrah fruit and
a noticible but not excessive toasty/oak component. Yet they all three
showed some of the classic CR/roasted character, though not at an intensity
I would have preferred. In this style of wine, I think probably the Failla
QueSyrah, the Edmunds StJohn Bassetti, the TinBarn, the Neyers Honoree
probably show more CR character than these LaLas did, at a fraction of
the $250/btl price. Heresey, I know. Of these LaLas, I thought the LaTurque
was the most Calif in style and the least interesting of the three. Though
nothing I'd throw out of bed. Initially, I preferred the lighter/more elegant
LaMouline to the LaLandonne, which seemed a bit blocky and closed. But
as they warmed in the glass, the LaLandonne started to really blossom and
was easily my favorite of the night. Beautiful/spectacular Syrah.
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At the prices charged for these wines ($40/$85/$250), the basic BetB would
easily be my choice to buy. The Amp and the LaLas are waaay to pricey for
what they are and I would much prefer dozens of Calif Syrahs I can think
of at a fraction of their price.
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Viognier: Learned a lot about its use in CR from Pierre. I had always assumed
that the standard practice was that the Viognier was interplanted amongst
the Syrah in CR, was all harvested at the same time and co-fermented (the
co-extraction thing). Apparently, there is only a tiny amount of Viognier
actually planted in CR, far more than is used in the CR reds. According
to Pierre, they are allowed to harvest the requisite Viognier from the
adjacent Condrieu vnyds and use that in their CR. The procedure at Guigal
is that they make their Condrieu and then backblend that, after fermentation,
into their CR to achieve whatever character they're seeking in that year.
That's a new one for me. And probably why I've never heard of anyone tasting
pure CR Viognier.
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It was my privledge to share a table w/ Bob Sherwood. First time we've
had an opportunity, even though having known each other well in CyberSpace
for a number of yrs, to taste together in RealSpace. Also at his table
were Bill&Cheryl Jamison (prolific cookbook authors) and Dave &
Susan Curtis (SantaFe School of Cooking). Made for a most pleasant evening,
though because of the seriousness of these wines, there wern't any dancing
on the tabletops last night!!
TomHill
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