Etienne Guigal, Ermitage Ex-Voto Blanc 2007

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck

Drinking beautifully, the 2007 Hermitage Ex Voto Blanc shows a forward, full-bodied, rounded style as well as a classic perfume of quince, caramelized stone fruits and crushed rocks. Like always, it was aged in 100% new French oak for 30 months, yet at this point, there’s not a trace of oak to be found. Still fresh and lively, with a healthy light gold color, it’s ideal for drinking over the coming 15+ years.

robert_parker93

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

The 2007 Hermitage Ex-Voto Blanc enjoys the same 100% new oak treatment and 30 months aging in barrel (an uncommonly long time for a dry white wine, but these wines are so concentrated and full, they can easily handle their long aging). The 2007 is more closed than the 2006, revealing a light gold color along with hints of crushed rocks, white currants, quince, hazelnut and marmalade, excellent acidity and super intensity but much less evolution, which is atypical for this vintage. Cellar it for several years and consume it over the following two decades. 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. Even the most challenging vintages, which often taste under-nourished, vegetal and thin in their first year or two of life, tend to take on concentration and character, turning out to be some of the finest wines in many of the most difficult Rhone vintages. Moreover, Guigal’s wines always taste better out of bottle than from barrel, which speaks to his honesty and integrity as well as to his brilliance in deciding how long to age a wine in wood or tank as well as choosing the perfect moment to bottle it. 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 the upbringing his wines. For ten to twelve years after my first visit to this estate in the late 1970s, I tended to think of Guigal as primarily a red wine specialist. I still believe the red wines are the heart and soul of Maison Guigal, but the quality of the white wines has gone from strength to strength over the last few decades, and the Guigal family now routinely produces some of the finest dry whites of the entire Rhone Valley, including their humble Cotes du Rhone, and more particularly their white cuvees of Crozes-Hermitage, St.-Joseph, Hermitage and Condrieu. They produce more of the latter wine than any other proprietor of this tiny appellation. Guigal’s 2008 whites have turned out surprisingly strong. There is widespread agreement that the greatest terroir of the large appellation of St.-Joseph is the 8-acre parcel high on the steep hillsides above the city of Tournon. With a south/southeast facing exposition overlooking the Rhone River and Tain l’Hermitage, this 8-acre site is Guigal’s famous Vignes de l’Hospice St.-Joseph. This vineyard is composed of fragmented granite soils that are similar to the famed Les Bessards on the other side of the river in Hermitage. Unfortunately, only 500 or so cases of the Vignes de l’Hospice emerge from this vineyard. Along with Chapoutier’s St.-Joseph Les Granits, it is always one of the St.-Josephs of the appellation. The Vignes de l’Hospice spends 30 months in small new oak casks, but one would never know that when smelling or tasting it. I admire what Guigal is doing with his two white wines from St.-Joseph. The generic St.-Joseph is always 95% Marsanne and 5% Roussanne aged in stainless steel (50%), new oak (25%) and neutral oak (25%). The special 1,000 case cuvee of St.-Joseph Lieu-Dit St.-Joseph is composed of 93% Marsanne and 7% Roussanne from a 5-acre parcel, and is aged in 100% new oak. In top vintages, Guigal produces two cuvees of white Hermitage, the generic offering and the limited production Hermitage called Ex-Voto, a blend of 95% Marsanne and 5% Roussanne from two of the great sites for white Hermitage, Les Murets and l’Ermite. No Ex-Voto was made in 2008 as it was blended with the regular white Hermitage. These wines spend a number of years in small French oak. Guigal’s red wines possess some of the lowest sulphur dioxide levels of any finished wines I have ever tasted. Most of them are approximately 10 ppm (parts per million) total SO2, which is virtually nothing. That said, the wines always age incredibly well, which goes back to Guigal’s brilliant, patient, long-term barrel, tank and foudre aging. The current value picks in Guigal’s red wine portfolio are his Crozes-Hermitage (one offering made) and his three St.-Joseph cuvees. Readers looking for over-the-top richness and 40-50 years of aging potential should check out the special cuvee Ex-Voto. There are usually around 1,000 cases of this old vine blend from Les Bessards (40%), Les Greffieux (40%) and the balance primarily from Les Murets. Hermitage has been made by the Guigal firm for over 50 years. The quality of the wines has gotten dramatically better with the acquisition of top vineyard sites from producers such as Jean-Louis Grippat and the De Vallouit family. This has allowed Guigal to add holdings from such famed lieux-dits as Le Meal, Beaumes, Les Bessards and Dionnieres. In most vintages, the regular Hermitage is aged 3 years in cask of which 45% is new French oak. The special cuvee called Hermitage Ex-Voto is aged for 42 months in 100% new French oak. All of these offerings are aged in barrels that are specifically made at Guigal’s own cooper at Chateau d’Ampuis. Importer: Vintus Wines, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

As I mentioned above, Guigal is not sure if he will offer a Hermitage Ex-Voto blanc in 2007. The barrel samples I tasted revealed a honeyed ripeness, spicy new oak, and outstanding concentration, but at this stage, it appears this wine will never achieve the high quality of the 2005, 2003, or 2001, much less the 2006. (Not yet released) While the entire world of wine knows how profound Guigal’s red wines are, they may not know that he continues to demonstrate a complete mastery of white wine varietals, from his lowly Cotes du Rhone blend of Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, Clairette, and Bourboulenc, to his seriously-endowed dry whites from the northern Rhone. There are two cuvees of white Hermitage. The luxury offering, Ex-Voto, comes from five acres of 90-year old Marsanne vines planted in two separate vineyards on Hermitage Hill - l’Ermite and Les Murets. As the following notes indicate, Guigal has set aside a number of barrels that could make up the 2007 Ex-Voto, but he is not yet sure the quality will be high enough as this must be a wine of great richness and complexity. Importer: Fred Ek and Patrick Will, Ex Cellars Wine Agencies, Solvang, CA; tel. (805) 686-9153

vinous94

Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds

Bright gold. Aromas of fresh pit fruits, orange marmalade, honey and pungent spices, with a smoky overtone. Lush and creamy in texture, offering mineral-drenched peach, pear and floral flavors and an exotic touch of candied licorice. Rich but lively, with outstanding finishing clarity and lingering smokiness.