• 2003 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (4/20/2006)
  WIML85,PURPLE86,WA88,WS87
  
  Tasted April 20, 2006 at home as part of the Wino Depot Tasting With Friends event for April 2006. Opened and served immediately in a Lennox Grand Tuscany Pinot Noir stem. Garnet color in the glass, clear hue throughout. Nose of bacon, black berries, black currant and oddly enough grape Kool-aid. Just about completely “flat” on the palate with some offputting flavors of bitters and iodine with the only redeeming characteristic being some black licorice fighting it’s way through. Drink now if you must. Value is unacceptable. (85 pts.)

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Wow - surprised to read "value is unacceptable" Joe. How much did you pay for this wine? I pay about $10 'round here and the bottles I've had have been pretty solid.

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Just about completely “flat” on the palate with some offputting flavors of bitters and iodine with the only redeeming characteristic being some black licorice fighting it’s way through.

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Key operative words being "flat", "oufputting", "bitters", "iodine" and the phrase "only redeeming characteristic". Even at a $1.99 a bottle I'd consider value unacceptable with a flavor profile like that.

FWIW. Just one reviewers opinion.

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So, this is still an 85 point wine. Based on your TN, it should be 50 points

By the way, I'll take all the 85 point wines you can find at $1.99.

Also, there is a lot of CdR made and there is some bottle variation to be expected.

Of course, as always JMHO

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As I posted on another board it seems that people in general think I should lower my rating to around 50. Maybe I should. Maybe a re-visit is in order. I have three different ways of rating a wine and this one was quick and dirty. On re-visit I'll use my official tasting sheet.

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WIML is rating cheap Rhone wines just like Parker does with cheap Spanish wines... take away 6-7 pts every time and you'll get the right score.

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FWIW, this wine may also just be going through a phase. The bottle or two I have had in the last two months are not showing near as good as the bottles I had last year. For me, these are "hands off" for the time being, in hopes they will come back around with more time in bottle.

In reviewing CT notes on this wine, almost none of the notes this year have been complimentary, unlike last year's notes. They seem to have taken a turn for the worse around November.

Mike

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The bottle I had last night I thought was good. It isn't a real complex wine but for the $11 I paid I thought it was a solid 89 point wine. I might go back and grab another bottle to compare and see if there is some bottle variation.

Here is my tasting note FWIW:

• 2003 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (4/25/2006)
  Tasted during the Wino Depot Tasting with Friends. Dark ruby color and a nose of leather and spice. It has a medium body with flavors of blackberry and cherry. Paid $11 at local wine store so I would recommend this wine at this price. (89 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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wiml, I bet you never thought you'd get this much heat from this wine!

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What heat I tried it and was looking for heat (alcohol) due to the hot season Did not find any heat.

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Having had other vintages of this wine, I think some of the discrepancy may be originating from the wine's youth. Most CdRs are ready to drink when bottled, but a good one from a year like 2003 might have a bit more stuffing to it and may actually need a bit of aging.

wiml, I bet you never thought you'd get this much heat from this wine!

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No fake Jake. You'd think I just rated the 2003 Quilceda Creek 100+ pts.