La Turque

The Producer

E. Guigal is not the oldest domaine in the Northern Rhône, but it is perhaps the most influential. Etienne Guigal founded the company in 1946 in Ampuis after managing the cellars of Vidal Fleury. His son Marcel took over the company in 1961 and his grandson Philippe, educated in Burgundy, became winemaker in 1997.

So what has changed in the Guigal family? They put their all into Côte-Rôtie when the region was virtually unknown outside France, buying Vidal Fleury in 1985 and Château d'Ampuis in 1995. We believe that no other producer has contributed more to this region, which is why we have kept their wines for decades.

History & Heritage

La Turque has a backstory that many great wines don't have. When Guigal acquired this vineyard, it had been neglected for decades. In the 1980s, they replanted the vines one by one on the steep terraces above Ampuis. The debut harvest was in 1985.

Why it matters. Because La Turque is, to put it in modern terms, a young vineyard with an ancient pedigree. The site itself has been cultivated since Roman times, but the current vines were planted under the direction of Marcel Guigal. La Turque is thus not an inheritance but a purposeful creation, which is reflected in the precision of the wines.

Terroir & Climate

La Turque is located on the Côte Brune, in the northern half of the Côte-Rôtie. The soil here is shale mixed with iron-rich brown clay, and it is this iron content that locals point to when explaining why wines from Côte Brune are darker and more structured than those from Côte Blonde, a few hundred meters to the south.

Why is this soil so important? Iron and schist weathered quickly, but the terraces on the steep south-facing slopes remain warm enough to bring Syrah to full ripeness. The addition of the local north wind, the bise, allows the grapes to achieve concentration without being overcooked.

Grape Varieties

La Turque is co-fermented from red and white grapes together. The blend is approx.

• 93% Syrah, which provides a base of dark fruit, pepper and tannins.
• 7% Viognier, a white grape that softens the tannins and lifts the flavors.

So why add Viognier to red wines? Viognier stabilizes color and evens out texture. La Mouline has considerably more of it (about 11%), while La Landonne has none at all. La Turque is somewhere in the middle and is where this wine lives stylistically.

Winemaking

The decisive choice for La Turque is oak. The wine is aged for 38-42 months in 100% new French barriques. That's about twice as long as most of the top Bordeaux wines, and all the barrels are new. On paper, this should suppress the fruit. But it doesn't.

Why? The concentration from this stretch of Côte Brune is so great that Guigal coopers the barrels in-house. The result is a wine in which the oak does not dominate, but rather supports. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel for about three weeks with pump-overs, followed by a lengthy élevage.

What are the best vintages of La Turque.

La Turque is a very consistent scoring wine. Exceptional vintages are (last 4 decades): 1985, 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2019.

Tasting Notes

The first sensations are the aromas. Violets, olives, smoked meats and pure graphite Côte Brune. The fruit is dark, blackberry, blueberry and ripe cherry, but enveloped by nuances of pepper, cured bacon and tapenade that deepen with age.

On the palate, La Turque is dense but not heavy. The tannins are fine-grained, the acidity is uplifting, and the new oak shows up as cedar and spice rather than vanilla. The finish lasts more than a minute. In its youth, this wine is tightly packed. Give it time.

Food Pairing

La Turque's savory, peppery side favors game and meats cooked over low heat. There are several combinations that go well with it:

• Roast duck breast with black pepper, where the wine answers to the spiciness.
• Saddle of venison or braised wild boar, where the iron in the wine meets the iron in the meat.
• Grilled lamb chops with herbs of Provence
• Aged Comté or mature Saint-Marcellin with a cheese course.

Serve at 16-18°C. Frankly, a wine like this deserves attention. Don't let it be buried under complex sauces.

Serving Suggestions

Serve at 16-18°C. Decant young wines at least two hours before serving; for wines older than 15 years, 30-45 minutes is sufficient. Old bottles can fade quickly in the decanter, so keep a close eye on them. Large Burgundy-shaped glasses hold flavors better than Bordeaux-shaped glasses.

Vintages

La Turque is remarkably consistent from year to year, but the style varies with the weather: warmer vintages, such as 2018 and 2020, yield riper fruit, generosity and early availability; cooler, classier years, such as 2016, yield structure, pepper and a tendency to lift that rewards patience.

If you're going to drink the wine in a few years, look to warmer vintages. If opened young, they are more forgiving. If you age it in the cellar, structured vintages tend to age longer and develop the savory, fatty complexity characteristic of a mature Côte-Rôtie. And the 2021 is a cool vintage, firmly in the second camp.

Cellaring Potential

La Turque rewards patience. Most vintages are best drunk between 8 and 25 years after harvest. Firm tannins from 100% new oak, the natural acidity of northern Rhône Syrah and concentrated fruitiness are the reasons why: store at 12-14°C, protected from light. With aging, the pepper turns to leather and the fruit to truffles.