Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis Cote-Rotie 2011
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Winemaker Notes
The hallmark of Chateau d'Ampuis is an unbelievably seductive perfume full of sweet red fruits, black fruits and spices, and an elegance despite the intense concentration of fruit. Chateau d'Ampuis defines what a great wine should be with its beautiful balance, complexity and length.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Very focused, with a lovely beam of lightly steeped red currant, bitter cherry and plum fruit flavors that glides atop singed cedar, black tea and dried star anise notes. The long finish is very fine-grained. A gorgeous wine. Best from 2016 through 2027. 400 cases imported.
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Wine Enthusiast
The essence of the appellation smokes out from the glass, offering hints of cracked pepper, bacon, clove and leather. It's reasonably full-bodied for Côte Rôtie, with feral, smoked-meat flavors, ample spice and plenty of the concentrated plummy fruit. Tannins are silky, making this approachable now, but likely capable of aging well for at least 10–15 years.
Editors’ Choice -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Cote Rotie Chateau d’Ampuis has closed down slightly since last year, yet still offers a terrific perfume of cured meats, vanilla bean, sweet black currants and graphite to go with medium to full-bodied, ripe, sexy style on the palate. I doubt it will truly close down and would happily enjoy bottles anytime over the coming 15 or more years.
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Wine & Spirits
A selection from vineyards surrounding the LaLas (La Mouline, La Londonne and La Turque), this is surprisingly restrained given its four-week maceration and 38 months in new barrels. The time in wood has brough a warm caramel richness to the berry fruit; it also smoothed out the tannins, which stretch through the wine like tense muscles, long and lean. The wine is giving enough to drink with pleasure right now, and sure to last well for a decade.
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The Guigal domain was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in the ancient village of Ampuis, home of the wines of the Côte-Rôtie. In these vineyards that are over 2400 years old, you can still see the small terraced walls characteristic of the Roman period. Etienne Guigal arrived in this region in 1923 at the age of 14. He made wine for over 67 vintages and, at the beginning of his career, participated in the development of the Vidal-Fleury establishment.
Despite his young age, Marcel Guigal took over from his father in 1961 when the latter was victim to a brutal illness rendering him blind. Marcel's hard work and perseverance enabled the Guigals to buy out Vidal-Fleury in 1984, although the establishment retains its own identity and commercial autonomy. In 2000, the Guigals purchased the Jean-Louis Grippat estate in Saint-Joseph and Hermitage, as well as the Domaine de Vallouit in Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage.
In the cellars of the Guigal estate in Ampuis, the northern appellations of the Rhône Valley are produced and aged. These are the appellations of Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Hermitage, Saint-Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. The great appellations of the Southern Rhône, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Tavel and Côtes-du-Rhône, are also aged in the Ampuis cellars.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
The cultivation of vines here began with Greek settlers who arrived in 600 BC. Its proximity to Vienne was important then and also when that city became a Roman settlement but its situation, far from the negociants of Tain, led to its decline in more modern history. However the 1990s brought with it a revival fueled by one producer, Marcel Guigal, who believed in the zone’s potential. He, along with the critic, Robert Parker, are said to be responsible for the zone’s later 20th century renaissance.
Where the Rhone River turns, there is a build up of schist rock and a remarkable angle that produces slopes to maximize the rays of the sun. Cote Rotie remains one of the steepest in viticultural France. Its varied slopes have two designations. Some are dedicated as Côte Blonde and others as Côte Brune. Syrahs coming from Côte Blonde are lighter, more floral, and ready for earlier consumption—they can also include up to 20% of the highly scented Viognier. Those from Côte Brune are more sturdy, age-worthy and are typically nearly 100% Syrah. Either way, a Cote Rotie is going to have a particularly haunting and savory perfume, expressing a more feminine side of the northern Rhone.