Drops of blackberry candy and violet perfume announce this ebulliently fruity, forward Syrah. Cassis and black-cherry flavors are intensely ripe yet pristine, elevated by subtle streaks of granite, smoke and licorice. Soft and silky on the palate, the wine is irresistible young but should hold nicely through 2028.\n \n Producer Information\n \n E. Guigal is one of the most notable wine producers in the Rhône Valley. It was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in Ampuis – where the headquarters remain to this day – on the western banks of the Rhône river, a stone's throw from the famous sun-roasted slopes of the Côte Rôtie, and Guigal's flagship wines, the famous "LaLa"s: La Landonne, La Mouline and La Turque. Guigal has a long history of winegrowing, and today the company hold plots throughout the nothern and southern Rhône and produces wines from classic northern Rhône and Mediterranean varieties including Grenache, Mourvèdre, Viognier and Roussanne, although the focus has always been on Syrah and the Côte Rôtie. The company's sizeable holdings include the likes of Saint-Joseph, Hermitage, Gigondas, Condrieu and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and wines are made from each, often labeled simply by their appellation title – a format that runs into the more affordable Côtes du Rhône range (which can be found in red, white and rosé form). Nonetheless, Guigal's most notable wines – La Landonne, La Turque and La Mouline – are all from the northern Rhône's Côte Rôtie, and are some of the most sought-after wines in the region. In fact, all three have had 100-point Robert Parker scores across multiple vintages. La Mouline and La Turque are both Syrah – Viognier blends from vines with an age of up to 75 years old. Both spend around 42 months in new oak before release and are dense and aromatic. La Landonne is 100 percent Syrah, from 40-year-old vines, and spends a similar amount of time in oak. A fourth Côte Rôtie wine, Château d'Ampuis, is named for an impressive historical estate in Ampuis acquired by Guigal in 1995 and, although part of the more stellar offerings of the producer, has yet to acquire the esteem of its three LaLa stablemates. As well as a more formal dry offering, Guigal also makes a late-harvest dessert wine from Viognier in the Condrieu appellation. Dubbed Luminescence, this wine is only made in exceptional vintages, and has previously been the victim of theft: in the excellent 2015 vintage, a third of the grapes were harvested without the knowledge of the winemakers.
