Guigal is the most famous produer in Côte Rôtie and one of the finest in the Rhône Valley. It was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal, following his departure from Vidal-Fleury, where he had worked for just under twenty years. His son, Marcel, joined the company in 1961 and is now the head of the company.
Guigal pioneered the notion of single vineyard Côte Rôties and his 3 most famous wines, La Landonne, La Mouline and La Turque are amongst the most sought after wines in the world today.
Marcel Guigal’s attitude to winemaking is typical of the simple genius that one seems to stumble upon when looking at any of the world’s greatest winemakers – low yields, organic viticulture and little or no intervention in the cellars – in short, a respect for nature and a passion for the wine itself.
96 Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
A surprisingly structured, full-bodied, masculine wine in the vintage is the 2006 Cote Rotie la Landonne. Still inky colored and loaded with notions of beef blood, black olive, peppery herbs, smoke and scorched earth-like minerality, it still needs another 3-4 years of cellaring to start to be approachable. It will certainly be one of the longest-lived wines in the vintage and will have 3-4 decades of overall longevity.
97 Points Wine Spectator
This is packed for the vintage, with dark bittersweet chocolate and espresso leading the way for the core of dense fig paste, hoisin sauce and mulled blackberry fruit. The long, smoky finish lets charcoal and iron notes play out, with a very grippy finish.