| Score: |
92 RP.
"The exceptional 2009 Crozes-Hermitage is one of the top wines of the vintage. A complex bouquet of black olives, licorice, ground beef, spring flowers and red and black currants soars from the glass of this 100% Syrah that is aged in 3-year-old barrels as well as larger foudres. With remarkable density, this evolved, approachable, delicious, full-bodied Crozes should drink well . . . . As I have written many times before, no one in the wine world is better at ‘raising’ a wine (or as the French call it elevage) than Marcel Guigal, who learned the skills from his father, Etienne. Because everyone tends to focus on vintage conditions and terroir, the importance of a wine’s elevage is often overlooked, but Guigal’s unusually long tank, foudre and small barrel aging regime for all his red wines as well as several of his whites results in an array of remarkable wines time and time again . . . . None of this is as simple as it might sound, and that’s why Marcel Guigal gets my vote as the reigning genius in terms of the upbringing of his wines. Crozes-Hermitage has become one of the Guigal “go-to” wines for value hunters and he has raised the level of this humble appellation dramatically with his recent efforts." Wine Advocate #198, Dec 2011 |