The Guigal family make extensive range of wines produced from the length and breadth of the Rhône Valley. The firm is far and away the largest producer of Côte-Rôtie and also owns Domaine de BONSERINE, Domaine de VALLOUIT as well as the merchant house of VIDAL FLEURY. The top wines are released under the “Nos Tresors” banner and Guigal is rightly famed for the resurrection of the wines of Côte-Rôtie during the 1970s and 80s. His top three red cuvées from the AC, La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque, are super-rich, very extracted and with copious loads of new oak, they are produced in very limited quantities and not surprisingly sell for stratospheric prices. However, their balance and extraordinary finesse is more important still. All three are truly profound wines with that extra dimension and depth found in only a handful of truly great wines. Perhaps La Turque is the finest. The vinification of each is quite unique. The Côte-Rôtie Château d’Ampuis and Condrieu La Doriane are very fine but not quiteof the same order. Very pricy red and white Hermitage, labelled Ermitage Ex-Voto, are also now offered both at a similar level to the top Côte-Rôtie wines. In 2001 Marcel Guigal purchased the domaine and vineyards of Jean-Louis Grippat, embellishing his estate with top-class sites in both Saint-Joseph and Hermitage. These wines are now labelled Lieu-Dit Saint Joseph and are released under the “Nos Tresors” label. The Vignes de l’Hospice red remains particularly striking under the Guigal ownership. Under the “Nos Collections” banner the vibrant red Côtes du Rhône remains a model of consistency. The Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde, which is sourced mainly from bought-in fruit, is certainly good. More impressive though is the Hermitage, which is dense and concentrated. It generally offers very fair value for the appellation. The southern Rhône wines understandably lack a touch of the quality and refinement of their northern counterparts. (DM)
