E. Guigal Saint Joseph Rouge “Lieu Dit”

Description

E. Guigal Saint Joseph Rouge “Lieu Dit” is a red wine made from 100% Syrah grapes sourced from the Saint Joseph Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the northern Rhône wine region of France. “Lieu Dit”, which literally translates as “place said”. This means that the grapes are grown in a specific site or part of a vineyard. In this case, the grapes are sourced from the former Ancien Domaine Jean-Louis Grippat estate which Guigal also own.

Guigal Wines was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in the village of Ampuis. His son, Marcel, took over from his father in 1961. The Guigal family owns vineyards in Condrieu and in the Côte-Rôtie with illustrious plots in many famous appellations. The wines are made and aged at 12th century Chateau d’Ampuis located in the northern Rhone. In the summer of 2003, in order to improve quality and control over all aspects of winemaking, Guigal opened an onsite cooperage. The cooperage at the Château d’Ampuis works in partnership with the cooperage at Chagny managed by Seguin Moreau.

As mentioned above the grapes for the E. Guigal Saint Joseph Rouge “Lieu Dit” are sourced from old vines at Ancien Domaine Jean-Louis Grippat which are characterised by their steep-sloped vineyards and soils composed of Gneiss rock with granite streaks. The Syrah vines have an age of between 20 and 70 years old The wine is aged 50% in new French oak barrels and 50% in one year old barrels. Around 18,000 bottles per vintage.

The different and bold label featuring St Joseph was designed by Roger Pfund, a Franco-Swiss artist who specialises in the design of bank notes.