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E. Guigal, located at Ampuis, the village of the Côte-Rôtie vineyards, was founded in 1946. Guigal is best known for the white Condrieu ‘La Doriane'; and the reds of Côte-Rôtie's La Turque, La Mouline, La Landonne, Côte-Rôtie Château d'Ampuis, Hermitage 'Ex-Voto' and various St. Joseph wines.
The producer is famous for making red wines in the traditional fashion – wines are vinified with a long maceration with skins and stems, and after pressing, aged for 3-4 years in oak casks, large and small before bottling.
For single vineyards, grapes are harvested at low yields of less than two tons per acre. In the case of La Turque, fermentation is in thermo-regulated stainless steel tanks, with automated punching down. Maceration is for four weeks. A tiny bit of Viognier (7%) is usually added to the wine. The finished wine is then aged for 42 months in new oak casks prior to bottling.
La Turque is a single vineyard wine. It benefits from vines with full Southern exposure and a complex terroir with soils made up of shale and iron oxide. The terroir lends finesse and strength to the wine. The vineyard is located in the Côte Brune, of the Côte-Rôtie, one of the most northerly and oldest appellations in the Rhone. Côte-Rôtie means "roasted slope", and it consists of 300 acres of sun-baked vineyards, most of which are located on the steep narrow terraced hillside. Naturally, tending and harvesting the vineyards must be done manually. There are two sections that produce the best wines - Côte Blonde, with lighter-colored soil and Côte Brune, with darker soil. Legend has it that Maugiron, a nobleman in this area, gave one of the two sections to his blonde-haired daughter, and the other section to his dark-haired daughter and that over time the two sections took on the traits of their respective owners. Aficionados like to compare 'La Turque' from the Côte Brune with 'La Mouline' from the Côte Blonde.  |
