This Guigal wine from the legendary slopes of Cote-Rotie is beautifully balanced with scarcely perceptible acidity and tannins which add ageing potential – softened by long ageing in oak. Guigal put a touch of Viognier in the blend to add femininity allowing for round, soft tannins. Aromas of raspberry, blackberry and vanilla.
The ‘Brune et Blonde’ or ‘brown and gold’ is in reference to the colour of the vine leaves around harvest time. Hence the thousand year old name of the Roasted Slope, aka Cote-Rotie. Hard, heat retentive granite is the bedrock of these slopes, bringing health, warmth and power to all of the grapes produced.
Along with this power, Guigal still manage to make exceptionally elegant wine with an abundance of finesse and complexity. Lots of spices, red berries and delicate oak aromas leading onto round soft tannins, flavours of raspberry, blackberry and vanilla balancing between scarcely perceptible acidity and tannins, which add ageing potential, and are already softened by long ageing. 36 months in the finest French oak, of which 50% new oak is used. The composition of the wine is mostly Syrah with just a touch of the Rhone white varietal, Viognier. The two grapes are co-fermented which helps give this highly concentrated wine the finesse and elegance it is renown for.
The Guigal name is synonymous with Rhône excellence and while they remain best known for their prized single-vineyard estate wines, they also produce some excellent-value wines that show their class at a far friendlier price. The approach to quality is as unwavering in this outstanding Côtes-du-Rhône, which is by far Guigal's biggest-selling wine, as it is in their top wines.