2019 Guigal Côte-Rôtie Château d’Ampuis

JD95-97 Scheduled to be botted at the end of this October, the 2019 Côte Rôtie Chateau D’Ampuis is another beautiful, layered, incredibly impressive wine. Ripe darker fruits, smoked meats, tapenade, and ground pepper all define the bouquet, and it’s full-bodied, with a wealth of baby fat, lots of tannins, and a great, great finish. It’s certainly in line with past vintages and perhaps shows a touch more tannic structure than the 2018.
JS96 This combines the elegance and finesse for which the appellation is famous with tremendous power. In spite of this the tannins are very fine, the generous oak already beautifully woven into the plush tapestry of flavors. Stunning length and complexity at the finish. From seven plots that are neighbours to La Mouline and La Landonne on the Cote-Rotie. A cuvee of 93% syrah and 7% viognier. Matured in 100% new oak barrels for 38 months. Drink or hold.
WA94-96 The 2019 Cote Rotie Chateau d’Ampuis is a super example of this cuvée, which blends fruit from seven different lieux-dits (three on the Cote Blonde and four on the Cote Brune). Smoky, herbal and complex, with a solid foundation of blueberry and raspberry fruit, it’s full-bodied and concentrated yet silky, elegant and long on the finish.
Estate Notes: The hallmark of Château d’Ampuis is an unbelievably seductive perfume full of sweet black fruits and spices, and an elegance despite the intense concentration of fruit (prunes, blackberry) and tannin. Château d’Ampuis defines what a great Côte-Rôtie should be with its beautiful balance, muscular complexity and length. A wine from a tannic and muscular vintage due to the hot climate. Solid tannins, yet well rounded by long oak ageing.

What a story. Etienne Guigal, working in the cellars of a local winery, is swimming in the Rhone river off the docks near the Château d’Ampuis. He meets a lovely girl, who works as a maid at the Château d’Ampuis, a historic property whose oldest sections date to the 11th century, where Kings of France have visited and slept, and symbol of the town of Ampuis and the world-renowned Côte-Rôtie vineyard area for ten centuries. In 1995, 7 years after Etienne passed away, his son Marcel Guigal purchased the Château, and spent 11 years restoring it, with over 100 people working on the project, all overseen by France’s Chief Architect of Historic Monuments.

Early on, when the Guigal family learned that there was at one time a wine produced with the Château d’Ampuis name, and they were able to trace the vineyards that were used in this original wine, they decided to produce an exceptional wine that would showcase the best that Côte-Rôtie has to offer.

Today Château d’Ampuis is made from 7 exceptional vineyards from both sides of Côte-Rôtie, the Côte Blonde and the Côte Brune, and vines averaging 50 years of age. These are exceptional vineyards, and in fact every vineyard is adjoining one of the three Guigal single vineyard crus, La Mouline, La Landonne and La Turque.

The vineyards are in the Côte Blonde as follows: Le Clos, La Garde, and La Grande Plantée; and in the Côte Brune: La Pommière, Le Pavillon Rouge, Le Moulin and La Viria.

Ampuis is composed of 93% Syrah and 7% Viognier, and aged in the same manner as the Guigal single-vineyard crus, with a 4 week maceration and alcoholic fermentation followed by 38 months in new barrels that are all made at the estate.