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E. Guigal - Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2015
- Producer E. Guigal
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Blend
45% Grenache
5% Mourvedre
50% Syrah - Country France
- Region Rhone Valley
- Appellation Cotes Du Rhone
- UPC 3 536650 502009
Vintage
From a vintage nearly as perfect as you could get, from vine dormancy right through harvest, the wines are spellbinding. Considered among the top vintages of the last 20+ years, these wines will be highly sought after. The 2015 vintage started well before the first bud-break. Replenishing rain in the winter restored the water tables to supply the plants with nutrients while abundant sunshine and warmth helped the vine mature the berries to perfection as the generous diurnal shift maintained the acidity and freshness of the fruit.
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
The soils are varied, consisting mainly sedimentary, limestone and granite soils, with many pebbles and alluvial deposits. The average yield is around 2.1 tons per acre, and the average age of the vines is 35 years.
Vinification
Guigal ages their Cotes du Rhone Rouge for a full two years (minimum) before release, almost unheard of in the Rhone. This expensive process results in a wine of unusual complexity, with a substantial and generous palate. After a long maceration and fermentation, aging takes place in oak foudres for 18 months.
Wine
The Guigals select and blend cuvees from over 80 top growers, and their talent lies in the rigorous and exhaustive traveling and tasting they carry out. Ultimately they select only 1% of all wines they taste for their Cotes du Rhone: one lot out of every one hundred. Since the 1998 vintage the wine has been based on Syrah, a Northern Rhone approach to a wine that is almost always Grenache-based. This focus produces wines of greater aromatic intensity and structure, though is much more costly to produce given the particularities of growing Syrah in the Southern Rhone. The blend is 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, and 10% Mourvedre. Complex and deceptively ageworthy, Guigal's Cotes du Rhone Rouge is one of the world's greatest wine values.
