TN: Some-or-a

[Jeff Grossman]

originally posted by MarkS:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by MarkS:

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:

originally posted by MarkS:

originally posted by Joe Cz:

originally posted by MarkS:
Guigal, Saint Joseph (blanc), 'Lieu Dit', 2012
Don't know why Guigal needs to put 'lieu dit' on the label while simultaneously not telling us which one? This a medium deep gold with paraffin on nose and a rich stew of butter, boiled peanut, and lemon-thyme honeycomb wax on the palate. There's that rich, dull, unctuous quality on the end that many white Rhones have and a little bit of alcohol warmth as well. [93% marsanne/7% rousanne]

It's from the lieu dit Saint-Joseph. I'm told it includes old-vine fruit from the former estate of J.L. Grippat (purchased by Guigal in 2000, IIRC).

Thanks! No wonder it's so good, then.

Oh, you liked it? I couldn't tell from the notes. (And "boiled peanut" is really unattractive to me.)

So you want points, then? I gave it an A- or about 91. I'm guessing the peanut note is why you tend not to like N Rhone whites?

No points needed but a favorable word or two would help. You may have meant your language to be flattering but your word-choice seems neutral to me: "dull", "unctuous", and you mention a final kick of alky... these are not Praise words. You also used a few neither-here-nor-there words: "stew" and "boiled peanut".

I'm like the dispassionate Supreme Court justice who only calls balls n strikes, I don't need interpret the law. But here I'll say it: boiled peanut in a marsanne or rousanne based wine is to me a positive, whereas 'dull' is usually what I'll find in the grapes as well and is not meant to be derogatory. If I found these in a California cabernet or a Finger Lakes riesling then they would be negative.

Thanks, Mark, that helps.