E. Guigal

The story of the Guigal wines is a story of family.

In the 1930s, a young man arrived at Vidal Fleury, a renowned winery in the Rhone Valley, having been sent off from his family who could no longer afford to take care of him. Etienne Guigal was only fourteen years of age and began a career that would span sixty seven harvests in the Rhone valley. 

After fifteen years at Vidal Fleury, having risen to Maitre de Chai, Etienne left in 1946 to start his own winemaking business, E. Guigal. But in 1961, by then a rising star in the Rhone valley, he was suddenly and tragically struck by complete blindness. Due to his father's illness, Etienne's son Marcel left school to join the family business. And although Etienne had laid the foundation, it was under Marcel's watch - under his tireless work ethic and dedication to quality - that the Guigal family wines rose to the top of the wine world. Importantly, their wines have brought Côte-Rôtie and other appellations throughout Rhone back into the spotlight. Writing about Guigal's single vineyard wines, La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque, Robert Parker Jr. noted, "in the past 26 years I have spent visiting wineries and vignerons, I have never seen a producer so fanatical about quality as Marcel Guigal." Today, Marcel’s son Philippe serves as director and winemaker and is carrying on the family tradition of uncompromising excellence.  

E. Guigal's brilliance comes through a few key attributes. First is their decision to purchase only the great vineyards. Throughout Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Saint Joseph, Hermitage, and Crozes-Hermitage, they own only the best parcels. These 150 acres are truly the finest sites in Northern Rhone and serve as the source for their celebrated estate-bottled wines.  

Second is their approach to viticulture.  The Guigal family works tirelessly in the steeply sloped, terraced vineyards, methodically re-building vineyards today that won’t be planted for another five to ten years. They do this because they believe in the soil, expositions and mesoclimates of these sites.  Their philosophy is to prune low and strictly limit the number of shoots per vine, training for low vigor and low-yields and looking for natural balance and concentration.  No pesticides, herbicides or chemicals are used, and the fact that some of Guigal vines date back to the 1890s is a testimony to the nurturing, obsessive approach the Guigals have in their vineyards.

Third, it is their approach to grape picking as a negociant company.  The family knows the Northern Rhone like no one else, and supplements their holdings by buying grapes from long-time grower partners. They have access to top fruit in all the regions they work but importantly, they do not have a single contract. Marcel and Philippe taste relentlessly and start from scratch every year. The family’s work ethic in finding the best fruit and wines in the Rhone Valley can be summarized by the motto on the Chateau d’Ampuis: “Nul bien sans la peine” – no good without pain.  

Guigal does not make "simple" wines - having picked the best grapes in the Rhone valley and with famously long aging in the barrels - sometimes up to three and a half years - the wines have great depth and complexity. Their wines are the benchmarks for every Rhone wine, and the Guigals have become one of the most revered producers in the world.  But in the end, what's most important about these wines is that it is about family.

According to Philippe, the third generation and current winemaker, “we are very proud of being a hundred percent family owned business which nowadays is rare in the Rhone valley. We can remain very focused and dedicated to what we do.”