1998 Hermitage

Marcel Guigal, the locomotive of the Northern Rhone Valley, has added another couple of cars to his train with the purchase of the Jean-Louis Grippat domain and the house of de Vallouit, both deals consummated in 2001. Following the permission granted by authorities to use the lieu-dit Saint-Joseph to distinguish the wine made from Grippat's prime holding at the original heart of the appellation, Guigal will offer no fewer than three red Saint-Joseph bottlings beginning with vintage '99. Guigal also picked up Hermitage vines through both purchases; previously he owned no vines in this appellation. Also beginning with the '99 vintage, there will be a negociant bottling of Crozes-Hermitage, made entirely from hillside fruit. My meeting this year with Marcel's son Philippe climaxed, as always, with a barrel tasting of three vintages of Guigal's fabled Cote-Roties La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne, always a highlight of my annual Rhone Valley tour.

According to Philippe Guigal, the fruit in Cote-Rotie ripened ahead of Hermitage in '99, an infrequent occurrence that may have had something to do with the timing and extent of late summer rains. As a result, the harvest generally started later in Hermitage, and some growers were affected by a soaking rainstorm on September 25. Guigal Cote-Rotie crus from this vintage, however, were picked at glorious levels of ripeness. Though still more than two years short of bottling, they are some of the most exciting unfinished red wines I've ever tasted. Another standout of my annual tasting chez Guigal was the 1998 Hermitage; I sampled the major components of this unfinished wine and came away convinced that it would be Guigal's strongest Hermitage since the great '90.