Côte-Rôtie La Turque Guigal 1998

Lot presentation

Côte-Rôtie La Turque Guigal 1998

The wine

La Turque is the youngest and rarest of the three Côte-Rôtie cuvées from Guigal. As the only vineyard in the appellation to benefit from constant sunshine, La Turque is harvested as late as possible in order to obtain perfectly mature grapes. Once the vinification is complete, the wine is matured in new barrique barrels for 40 months. With its ruby ​​red colour and dark reflections, the wine reveals powerful, delicate aromas of sour cherry, blackberry and oriental spices. While one the one hand possessing the virility of the Côte Brune, La Turque also has the subtlety and feminine accents of the Côte Blonde. This extraordinarily rich wine, often delicious in its youth, has significant keeping potential, enabling it to develop a majestic creaminess.

Located in Ampuis, the heart of the Côte-Rôtie, Domaine Guigal was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal who arrived in the region in 1923 at the age of 14. Guigal has contributed enormously to putting this appellation on the map. In 1961, the young Marcel Guigal left school and took over the reins when his father was struck by sudden loss of vision. Driven by a desire to produce high quality wines, the young vigneron undeniably changed the perception of Côte-Rôtie wines. Nowadays, the brilliant oenologist Philippe Guigal – Marcel's son – is the third generation to run the estate, alongside his wife Eve.
The vineyard now also runs over to the Rhone valley's prestigious appellations of Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, Hermitage, Gigondas, Crozes-Hermitage. They are all vinified and matured in the cellars of Ampuis. Philippe and Eve continue to devote considerable care to all of the winemaking process: sustainable pest management (HVE-certified), entirely manual labour due to the steep slopes of the vineyards, vinification in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, and ageing in new oak barrels for up to 42 months. The house produces three cuvées “prestige” - La Landonne, La Mouline et La Turque – a sublime trilogy which wine connoisseurs go mad for.
The headquarters of the estate is the Château d'Ampuis, a jewel of the Renaissance which is listed as a Historic Monument. The Guigal signature is one of the most emblematic of the Rhone Valley, it shines for its infallible constancy and rigorous grape production.