Guigal
The Guigal Estate was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in the small village of Ampuis in the Northern-Rhône area.
Before that, he already worked at Vidal-Fleury since 1924 and was responsible for developing this ancient domaine. Although Etienne produced wine from various appellations throughout the Rhône area, he is particularly well known for putting the appellation “Côte-Rôtie” on the international wine map.
The vineyards of Côte-Rôtie (“Roasted Slope”) have a long history. Some of them are existing for over 2400 years! Guigal became very famous for his single-vineyard wines from Côte-Rôtie; “La Landonne” (100% Syrah), “La Mouline” (90% Syrah and, on average, 10% of the white Viognier grape) and “La Turque” (95% Syrah and 5% Viognier), also known as the “La-La-La wines”.
They are all aged up to 42 months in new oak vats. Quantities are very limited: Between 4800 and 10.000 bottles each year. They all can last easily for 20 years or more and are one of the most sought-after wines from the region.
His other famous wine is from the appellation Hermitage, in the Northern-Rhône area as well. Making its debut only in 2003, the “Ex Voto” Hermitage appears in both a red (Syrah) and a white (Marsanne and Roussanne grapes) variant. It is a cuvée, which means it’s produced from various vineyards throughout the Hermitage appellation.
Furthermore, there is a white wine from the appellation “Condrieu” (also in the Northern-Rhône), made entirely from Viognier grapes. Its debut vintage was 1994 and only 600 cases are produced every year. In charge of the domaine is Marcel Guigal who has the same passion for making top quality wines as his father did.
Read more