The King of Northern Rhone - E. Guigal

Anyone who has drove passed Cote Rotie’s vineyard will be “stunned” by the breathtaking site. Tipped at the higher ridge at 1,150 ft (330m) with the steeperslope of inclination exceeds 60°. Cote Rotie or “the roasted slope” must be one of the hardest vineyard sites in the planate earth to cultivate grapevine. This arguably the oldest vineyard of France (more than 2,000 years) was located south-west of Vienne, which was the center of Roman’s empire during 121 BC. During than, a local wine, the vinum picatum has already been produced from the hillsides around Vienne that made famous as amongst the first Gallic wine to reach Rome. Roman philosopher, Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) has written in his Natural History about this “pitch” wine (picatum means, pitch) during 77 AD. vinum picatum is also long been consider the ancestor of Syrah grape.

The heart of Cote Rotie remains the hillsides right beside Ampuis. Here is what was described in Roman times, where winemaking begins. Cote Rotie is divided into two primary regions: Cote Blonde and Cote Brune. Legend has it that the names originatefrom Lord Maugiron bequeathed his land to each of his daughters. The southern slope was given to his daughter with the golden blond hair and the northernslope went to his other daughter with the dark brown hair. Two distinct soils were found in Cote Rotie – the dark brown, schist rich in the northern part, from Cote Brune up to Verenay and St-Cyr-sur-le-Rhone produces wines of black fruit and obvious tannin that would required time to show their greatness. Wines made from the Cote Brune are often thought to be age much better thanthose from Cote Blonde. The southern Cote Blonde stretches Tupin and Semons and over the Bassenon stream intoCondrieu is larger than Cote Brune – 14 versus 10 hectares. The soil here is the loose granite sector, with lighter color that produces wines of floral, red fruit, softer tannin and early accessibility.

Cote Rotie is 95% planted with Syrah, with the white grape Viognier also allowed, up to a maximum of 20% in the blend. Much of the Viognier is grown in the southern Cote Blonde’s area, especially when the soil turned from granite to limestone, where Syrah give way to Viognier grape. Guigal is among the few that grows Viognier on Cote Brune, and later blended into his top Lieux-dits vineyard – La Turque.

In the early 1970s. Rhone was an unknown wine territory. Since the 1980s. The raised of Robert Parker and his affection for Marcel Guigal’s wine has advance the international interest on this once unknown quality wine region.

The firm’s Guigal was established by Etienne Guigal in an ancient village of Ampuis in 1946. Prior to that, Etienne Guigal spent 15 years working to Vidal Fleury. Marcel Guigal took over the family business in 1961 when an unexpected illness led to the blindness of his father, Etienne. Despite at the young age of 17, Marcel expanded enormously for his company, acquiring Vidal Fleury in 1984, and in 2000, bought two other estates - Jean-Louis Grippat in Saint-Joseph and the Domaine de Vallouit in C?te-R?tie, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. Guigal also bought the historic Chateau d'Ampuis in the town of Ampuis in 1995, and has since restored to its past glory and also installing its own cooperage there in order to have the absolute control of the barrel quality. In 2006, his equally talented son, Philippe Guigal joined the family business and the same year, Guigal add Domaine de Bonserine, the second-largest vineyard owner in Cote Rotie into his empire.

Guigal, under Marcel Guigal, came to international fame in the mid-80s when the world most influential critic, Robert Parker praised him as, “there is no winemaker on the planet Earth who has produced so many compelling wines irrespective of the vintage conditions as Marcel Guigal”. This statement was further enhanced by an unprecedented of 21 times scored at a perfect 100 points by Robert Parker from his three single-Lieux-Dits Cote Roties (see chart below).

This attention not only contributed the later high demand of Guigal’s single-Leiux-Dits Cote Roties, but also the overall popularity of Rhone wine in general. Here is the details background of Guigal’s “La Las”:

l La Mouline – the most profound and accessible of all. Made predominantly from Syrah, with a higher % of Viognier that varies from 8-12% depending on the vintage. This one-hectare vineyard from Cote Blonde is the oldest of the three “la las”, with vines average age being 75-year-old. The first vintage of La Mouline was 1966. 400 cases made.

l La Landonne – the most tannin and long-live of all. Made exclusive from Syrah from Cote Brune with average vine age of 25-year-old. La Landonne is the steepest vineyard of all three, with the gradient of 63°. The debut vintage of La Landonne was 1978. 800 cases made.

l La Turque – the youngest vineyard of all three. First made in 1985 from the Cote Brune sector, but closer to Cote Blonde than La Landonne. Typically blend of 7% Viognier and 93% Syrah with the average vine age of 15-year-old. This is the wine that said to be combined the structured frame of La Landonne and the compelling personality of La Mouline. 400 cases made.