E. Guigal ChateauneufduPape 2001

Ben Snyder

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 "clbuttic" 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.