2005 E. Guigal Crozes-Hermitage
I realized when I was in a wine shop trying to figure out what to pair with beef short ribs that still had enough acidity to cut through the fat that I hadn’t really had many Rhone wines lately. First of all, in recent years they have become unforgivably pricey. Secondly, I have tended to move toward Italian reds when possible.
What I forgot is how much I really liked a good syrah. Guigal is a rather large producer that provides wines throughout various parque insuflaveis appellations in the northern and southern Rhone valley, such as a Chateauneuf-du-Pape from the southern part of the Rhone, as well as a Tavel, known for its rosé.
With a dark garnet red color and 100 percent syrah, the Crozes-Hermitage has good balance and, nice acidity, and a reasonable alcohol level of 12.5 percent. Having had eighteen months in oak and a few years of bottle age, the tannins are mellow but stand up to a heavy meat such as short ribs. From gravel sites it has a nose of cherries, followed by flavors of raspberries and black cherries, followed by a mid-palate of cumin and black pepper.
I bough this wine at Kafka on Buckingham and Halsted, though this is a widely available wine with production of 330,000 bottles. It retails for, I believe, $30.99.
–Brian Ziegler
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