Guigal La Doriane Condrieu 2018 (750ML)

97 JD / 97 JS / 96 VM

Bottled at the same time, the 2018 Condrieu La Doriane is a bigger, more luxurious version of the appellation release. Beautiful quince, acacia flowers, apricot, and spice notes emerge from the glass and it builds beautifully on the palate, with medium to full body, integrated acidity, and flawless overall balance. It shows the soft, sexy side to the vintage and is best enjoyed over the coming 4-6 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

This is a very fresh and attractively rich wine, as always, but the forward nature of the vintage has played right to its strengths. The nose is so complex with apricot custard and brulée, as well as roasted hazelnuts and all manner of baking spices. Some mangoes and peaches, too. The texture is so supple, rich and beautifully silky, really bathed in flavor, and already drinking wonderfully. So long, with grilled hazelnuts that rise very late on the back-palate horizon. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

Light, green-tinged yellow. A hugely perfumed bouquet evokes ripe orchard and pit fruit liqueur, honey, vanilla, exotic flowers and smoky minerals, along with emerging spiciness. Broad and fleshy but shockingly lively as well, offering palate-coating orchard and pit fruit flavors that take on energizing spiciness through the mid-palate. The honey and mineral note reverberate on an extremely long, smooth finish that leaves a refreshingly bitter orange zest note behind. - Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media