If today one speaks of the great renaissance of Rhône wines in the 21st century, then this is also and especially a great merit of the winery E. Guigal. Founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal as Château d'Ampuis, named after a charming little Renaissance castle, the château has developed an enormous appeal for its outstanding qualities, over the decades and far beyond the French borders.
Since the 1990s at the latest, critics and lovers of great Syrah wines have been raving about the wines of Guigal, and the single-vineyard wines such as "La Landonne" or "La Turque" are always scratching the magic 100-point mark, as yet unreached but ever closer.
Today, Marcel and Philippe Guigal are the third generation to run the world-famous winery, with Marcel having to abandon his education at the age of 17 due to his father's illness, in order to take over the chateau. Today he is celebrated as a French winemaking icon. Just 10 hectares in size, the estate owns parcels in absolute top sites of the northern Rhône on the legendary granite rock.
Father and son have a special love for the typical grape varieties of the northern Rhône, Viognier and Syrah, but they also pay a lot of attention to the other classic varieties of southern France, such as Bourboulenc, Grenache Mourvèdre and Cinsaut. The site wines of Guigal are highly traded and enjoy absolute cult status, but the exceptional skills of the Guigal family are equally reflected in the inexpensive wines for every day, which represent fabulous value.
