“No pain no gain”

“No pain no gain”

With vineyards by the romans 2400 years ago, the history of winemaking in the Rhone is a long one. Relatively speaking, Guigal is a young winery, having been founded 1946 by Etienne Guigal, who himself had begun working as a cellar hand at Vidal-Fleury in the Côte-Rôtie at the age of 14. He progressed to Cellar master and then began his own venture down the road in Ampuis, where Guigal is still based today. The domain is run by Etienne son, Marcel and grandson Philippe, who is responsible for winemaking today. Together there are guided by their family motto: “no pain, no gain”.

Every great wine begins in the vineyard and the Guigal family work with the greatest appellations of the Rhone valley, both with vineyards they own and by working with growers. From their benchmark Côtes-du-Rhône rouge and blanc to their legendary three single-vineyard Côte-Rôtie wine – La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne (affectionately known as the “La Las”) Guigal are meticulous in their approach to every step of the process.

Such is their dedication, Guigal pay their grape growers three times the market rate to get the best quality grapes, have their own cooperage to make their own barrels to ensure the perfect ageing process and Marcel and Philippe Guigal spend 2 hours tasting their different wines each working day to ensure quality and consistency.