We basically ran the gauntlet of Guigal's wines and the line up included the
following

Condrieu 2001
Condrieu 'La Doriane' 2001
Cote du Rhone 2000
Gigondas 2000
Chateauneuf du Pape 2000
Croze Hermitage 2000
Hermitage 2000
Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde 1999
Chateau d'Ampuis Cote Rotie 1999
Cote Rotie 'La Mouline' 1999
Cote Rotie 'La Turque' 1999
Cote Rotie 'La Landonne' 1999

The last three were the reason I paid quite a bit to attend as I had never
tasted them and am unlikely to again - mainly for two reasons. The first
cost - I've got a mortgage and I would have to take out a second one to
afford them , secondly the lack of availability in New Zealand - my region
got allocated about three bottles each of the top three wines and New
Zealand as a whole got under a case of each for the WHOLE COUNTRY. But I
guess that's as a result of the cost.

As for the ageing question I certainly would NOT open any of the Cote Roties
yet, with the possible exception of the Brune et Blonde. Although they were
all beautifully intense and complex they had little if any complexity that's
brought on by bottle age. But how long you age them I'm not qualified to
tell as I've only been collecting and aging wine for about five years.
Other people in the tasting were talking about them aging for at least 15
years before opening. For the d'Ampuis a figure of around 10 years was
mentioned. But I guess it depends on how you like your wines - open earlier
if you enjoy the fruity aspects or later if you enjoy the bottle aged
tertiary flavours.

I've got tasting notes for all of the above although as usual they get more
and more illegible as the night went on. Let me know if you're interested
and I'll have a go at deciphering them.

Regards

Siobhan





>
> Well I have bought a couple, but have not actually tasted it--hence my
> inquiry. Thank you very much for the notes...have you tried any other
> 99's...and what of 98's and 2000's? To age (a long time) or not to age
> (so long)
>
> Though you have set my mouth a watering I must say...no, must not
> touch! (sound of one hand slapping the other)
>
> Thanks
> M.Leduc