Maison
Guigal
69420 Ampuis
Ph 04 74 56 10 22
Fax 04 74 56 18 76
A third generation
winery, Chateau d'Ampuis is a very special success story. Etienne
Guigal founded the winery in 1946. His son Marcel Guigal is currently
at the helm, but will have no trouble passing the reigns to his
son Philippe, a young, intelligent, and well
educated enologist,
who has captured the beat of both worlds. With a passion for technology,
Philippe has designed and implemented the new technology that
will bring the winery into the new millenium. His love and admiration
for his parents and grandparents heritage in winemaking before
him have eased the transition from manual to computerization,
insuring that the winery will be able to stay in the family. We
met him on a rainy day in mid October.
Philippe greeted
us at the door with a big smile, wearing a rain slicker, water
running down his rain hat, with " It is raining outside,
and it is no concern of MINE! The harvest is IN!" and he
laughed a most contagious laugh. We were immediately ushered into
a modern
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| Marcel and
Philippe Guigal |
elevator with marbled
floors, and whisked two floors down into the cellars for our tour.
As we passed through the various caves and levels of storage,
we reached the vinification room where the computer system was
set up. Philippe set himself at the helm and began explaining.
"The controls start even before the first flower arrives
on the vine, selecting just the right amount of growth and timing
for the harvest, so critical for a perfect yield." Maintaining
8,000 - 10,000 vines per hector, the vines are maintained on their
steep slope by horse and plow. Utilizing the biodynamic system,
the eco system is balanced out by natural controls. Plants fight
off unwanted insects, and then other insects fight off unwanted
insects. Only the strongest vines survive, as the roots compete
with each other, and go deeper.
"If you have
good grapes, there is no chance to make bad wine." Phillipe
said . That is why it is so important to make sure you have good
grapes. Grapes are not crushed in 50 kilos. They are done in small
quantities for quality. They are twice sorted, and 8 people sort
the grapes. The computer process allows them to grade the quality.
When the system was new in 1993, 10 growers had their grapes refused.
In 1994, only 3 growers had their grapes refused.
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| Philippe
Guigal and Judie Vacchina |
The winery itself
owns 2 hectors and buys from between 40 - 50 growers. The hectors
that they own produce about 4,500 bottles. As they are Negocients,
they buy from the local growers and make over 4 million bottles
of wine a year, mostly under the Cote du Rhone label. Their own
hectors produce the highest quality of wine, the Hermitage and
Croze Hermitage appelations - 60% of all wines they produce are
exported. US represents 1/3 of that 60% followed by Japan, at
18%, then Germany. It is predicted that 1999 will be the best
harvest ever.
As we toured through
the cellars, Philippe pointed out some of the cellars that were
more than 250 years old. As we began tasting, Philippe noted to
us that White Hermitage is classical - could age 10 - 15 years.
But Condrieu is here for now. It is flowery, pleasant.
The 1995 white
hermitage was elegant,but strict with a hint of fruit, classical
and could age for ten years. It had a bright straw color, with
smokey vanilla and spicey undertones, highlighted by a fruity
taste of apples, pears and apricots. The grape used was 93% Marsanne.
We then tasted a 1996 Red Hermitage -a deeper, earthy,
straight forward taste , with a deep sustained color. This wine
would be great with a nice meat. The 1996 cote rotie, brune and
blonde- blended, had great flavor and balance,but was still very
young. We then moved on to a 1998 Condrieu - catching us with
its golden color and peachy nose, a straight forward taste, with
a slow finish. Our treat or course, was the 1996 la Turque
- the least seen out in the market, and has the smallest production,
single vineyard wines. It comes from Cote Brun, and is produced
from relatively young vines. Nice, powerful, aged 42 months. This
wine is 1% of their production, and made 350 cases of it last
year, and is one their greatest Rhone valley wines. It has a deep
color, with a spicy nose,and holds our attention with superb deep
flavors.
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