Guigal

Guigal, formally Établissements Guigal, is a winery and négociant business situated in Ampuis in the northern part of the Rhône region in France. Guigal produces wine from appellations across the Rhône region, but is particularly noted for their Côte-Rôtie wines and played a pioneering role in improving Côte-Rôtie's international reputation. Guigal's single vineyard wines La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque (sometimes referred to collectively as "La La's") are internationally renowned. In 2007, the release of the 2003 vintage of Guigal's "La La" wines set the record for most expensive release of any Rhone wine, with bottles retailing for as much as $800.

Guigal was established in 1946 by Étienne Guigal, who had worked for Vidal Fleury for 15 years before setting up his own business. It has been managed by his son Marcel Guigal since 1961. In 1984, Guigal bought Vidal Fleury but continues to operate it as a separate business. In 2000, Guigal bought and absorbed two other wineries: the estate Jean-Louis Grippat in Saint-Joseph and the Domaine de Vallouit, with vineyard holdings in Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage, which added some high-end vineyards in other appellations to the Guigal range. In 2006 the Domaine de Bonserine was purchased by Guigal. In recent years, Marcel's son Philippe Guigal has been active as a winemaker at Guigal.

Guigal, under Marcel Guigal, came to international fame in the early- to mid-1980s when Robert M. Parker, Jr. followed by other wine critics heaped praise on Guigal's top Côte-Rôtie wines, in particular the three single vineyard wines La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque. Parker comments that "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." This attention contributed to the Rhône wines' improved international fame in general, and in particular led Côte-Rôtie to be seen more on par with Hermitage than in previous times. This also meant that the top Côte-Rôtie wines increased in price to reach and later follow and sometimes surpass that of the top Hermitage wines. In 2006 Marcel Guigal was awarded the Decanter Man of the Year award for his contribution and dedication to the Rhône.

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