Rhone royalty, negociant E. Guigal's three single vineyard Cote Rotie - La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque - have long been amongst the most prized wines not just from the region but globally, and are affectionately nicknamed the LaLas.

Each wine represents a legendary and distinctive Cote Rotie cru of its own and symbolically serves as continuity from one generation of Guigal to the next.

The La Mouline was inaugurated by current Maison chief's Philippe Guigal's grandfather, Etienne Guigal (the "E" in E. Guigal, and who founded the Domaine) a dream he had held since 14 when he arrived in Ampuis, and was first produced in the 1966 vintage. The vineyard sits along steep terraces of its namesake La Mouline, which Guigal had finally fulfilled his dream and purchased in 1966 together with his son Marcel Guigal.

Marcel and Etienne Guigal.

The La Landonne was then planted by Phillippe Guigal's father and grandfather, Marcel and Etienne Guigal, in celebration of his birth, with its first vintage in 1978. The vineyard features vertiginous slopes, and the wine is seen as Philippe's own cuvee.

Finally, the La Turque vineyard was revived by Marcel Guigal in 1985, with the parcel once produced as far back as 1935 which was since then abandoned until Guigal's revival.

And so in continuing the family tradition, Philippe would thus in 2010 acquire the La Reynarde vineyard and begin planting it in commemoration of the birth of his twin sons, Charles and Etienne, making it four La's for four generations of Guigal. 

The La Reynarde vineyard resides just 300 meters away from the La Turque vineyard, and was named after the the Le Reynard stream that runs between the Cote Brune and Cote Blonde lieux-dits, serving as a natural boundary between the two legendary Cote Rotie areas. The parcel comes from the lieu-dit Fongeant, where the soils are mica-schist and gneiss with the presence of migmatites, and is cusped between vineyards owned by Jean-Paul Jamet and Jean-Luc Jamet, abandoned post-phylloxera in the 19th century, where it laid barren until Guigal had acquired it. Guigal had explained that it took significant work on the terraces and walls before any planting could start, and that the entire project was a slow and tedious process with just a quarter of the vineyard able to be planted each year from 2015 through to 2018. Each section was then vinified annually (25% in 2019, 50% in 2020, 75% in 2021 and 100% in its debut 2022 vintage), with the entire project taking 5 years to get up to readiness.

The 100% Syrah La Reynarde is made traditionally, with Philippe adhering to the family's practices as it were since 1966, employing the use of whole bunch vinification and extended elevage of 40 months of barrel ageing before release. 

Although attendees of the 2024 New York Wine Experience were able to taste the inaugural 2020 vintage of the La Reynarde, Philippe had said that he would wait for a great vintage before releasing it to the public - which takes us to 2026 with the 2022 vintage!

Bookmark it now on Drink-X.com!

The 2022 vintage of the E. Guigal La Reynarde is due to be launched on 2nd February 2026.

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team