Steve brought this as a mystery wine to our middle-aged Syrah tasting last night:
1. E.Guigal AC: StJoseph Vignes de l'Hospice (13%) 2006: Very dark color w/ no bricking; very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry bit smokey very slight roasted/NR/black olive youthful attractive very Calif Syrah-like nose; soft very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/Calif-like vague olive/coffee flavor w/ light/soft/gentle tannins; med.long strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah very slight black olive/NR/coffee soft/lush/ripe w/ light/soft tannins; very expressive of a nice $25 Calif Syrah; almost no NorthernRhone character quite soft and lacking in structure; this is how they would make StJoseph in WallaWalla if they could; a very nice Syrah but totally underwhelming for the price. $70.00 (vSS)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This special Guigal wine comes from two vnyds above the town of Tournon that is owned by the local Hospice. First made in 1999. It is supposedly the benchmark wine for StJoseph.
I thought it a pretty decent Calif or WashState mid-range Syrah, which is what most people guessed. But it's not too hard to find Calif Syrahs that have much more Rhonish character than this one. Whatta waste of a great terroir. This is a very good Syrah...as long as you aren't a worshiper at the altar of terroir.
Tom