E. Guigal - Crozes-Hermitage - Red 2012 | Monsieur Touton Selection

Tasting notes

Aromas of strawberries, raspberries and spice are followed on the palate by darker, cassis fruit. It is a large, tannic wine but with plenty of freshness and refined tannins from the extended aging.

Estate

The firm of E. Guigal, located in Ampuis, was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal. Since 1961 his son Marcel has led the estate, and his unparalleled work ethic and dedication to quality have brought attention to Cote-Rotie and other appellations throughout the Rhone that were in danger of being lost, and lifted the Guigal wines to the pinnacle of the wine world. Today, Marcel's son Philippe serves as Director and Oenologist, continuing the tradition of leadership in the Rhone Valley and uncompromising excellence.

Vineyard

Guigal produced a red Crozes-Hermitage for the first time in the 1999 vintage, supplementing wines made from his own vineyards by supplementing their holdings with fruit grown exclusively on low-yielding hillside vineyards. The soil is limestone, clay silt, and sandy gravel, and the average age of the vines are 35 years old.

Vinification

After alcoholic fermentation and 3 weeks of maceration, the wine was aged in barrel for 24 months

Wine

Crozes-Hermitage is the largest of the appellations of the Northern Rhone, comprising just over 2,500 acres planted to Syrah for red wine and Marsanne and Roussanne for white. The vineyards are largely on the plain, producing reasonably priced and straightforward wines, but there are also some superb hillside vineyards which provide concentrated, long-lived wines. In general, the red wines have prototypical Syrah flavors, spicy and persistent, with vigor and intensity of flavor in an appealingly rustic style.

France Rhone Valley Crozes-Hermitage