I visited its small cellar in a lane in the village of Ampuis in the Côte-Rôtie more than 20 years ago, but now it has expanded its range and vineyards and bought the Chateau d'Ampuis. Guigal operates in both the southern Rhone, with its rolling hills and Mediterranean climate, and in the cooler northern Rhone, with steep hillsides on both sides of the Rhone River.
Guigal's brand ambassador Brett Crittenden was in Dunedin recently, holding tastings of some of its wines.
They ranged from very drinkable and versatile Côtes du Rhône whites and reds (about $26) to some stylish single-vineyard reds.
Whites grown in the Rhone are viognier, which is unblended in the opulent Condrieu 2010 ($105), and rousanne and marsanne, which with a small proportion of other varieties produce a fresh silky mouth-filling Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2011 ($26) that is versatile with food.
Its red counterpart, Côtes du Rhône Rouge 2009 ($26), a blend of syrah, grenache and mourvedre, oozes dark blackberries, savoury spices and dusty tannins and is also good value and versatile.
The Chateauneuf du Pape 2007 ($103), a blend of 80% old-vine grenache, with 10% syrah and 5% mourvedre, was rich with hints of raspberries, spicy oak and fine, fresh tannins. It can be very long-lived.
St Joseph Vignes d l'Hospice 2010, ($170) is from a steep granite slope above the river where vines have been grown since Roman times. Grapes and equipment have to be winched up the slope.
Made from 100% syrah, this wine is fragrant with opulent, spicy dark fruit and supple tannins that will live, they say, for a minimum of 20 years.
Hermitage is the most famous appellation in the northern Rhone and Guigal's Hermitage Rogue 2007 ($134) is mellow, spicy and complex.
From Guigal's home territory come the dark, velvety Côte Rôtie 2009 ($140) and the Côte Rôtie Chateau d'Ampuis 2009 ($294), silky with dark, rich fruit, harmony and charm.
The fruit for this comes from vineyards bordering Guigal's most famous vineyards La Turque, La Mouline and La Landonne, which produce its flagship wines which start around $600 a bottle and are highly sought-after in the US and Europe.
Needless to say, we didn't get to taste these.
