70% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah, 5% other varieties

Food pairings: Grilled red meats or red meats in a rich sauce, rosemary lamb chops or herb-roasted lamb, duck breast, venison and game birds in season, slow-cooked stews such as a Provençal daube or beef bourguignon, and a board of aged cheeses such as Comté or a nutty sheep's milk cheese.

Winemaking: The grapes are vinified the traditional way, with temperature-controlled fermentations and a long maceration of about three to four weeks to draw out color, fruit and structure. The wine then ages for three full years in large oak foudres, which round and polish its tannins. Father and son, Marcel and Philippe Guigal, oversee the selection and blending themselves in the family's tasting cellar at Ampuis. 2021 was a cooler, later and more classic vintage in Châteauneuf-du-Pape: the April frost that struck much of France largely spared the appellation thanks to the wind and the nearby Rhône, the summer stayed moderate, and the last grapes came in during early October. The result is a fresher, more elegant Châteauneuf with lively acidity, lovely now and built to age for around 15 years.

Vineyards and terroir: The wine comes from old vines, about 50 years old on average, rooted in the classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape terroir of rounded stones over red clay and ancient Rhône alluvium. Swept by the Mistral and burnt by the Provençal sunshine, these stony vineyards give wines with the unmistakable flavors of the South. The appellation allows 13 grape varieties, and here, as across Châteauneuf-du-Pape, old-vine Grenache leads the blend.

Family and history: Étienne Guigal arrived in Ampuis, in the heart of Côte-Rôtie, in 1924 at the age of 14 and founded Maison Guigal there in 1946, going on to make 67 vintages. His son Marcel took over in 1961, when Étienne was struck by temporary blindness, and from 1973 he and his wife Bernadette worked hand in hand to expand the family business into one of the great names of the Rhône Valley. The family bought the historic Château d'Ampuis in 1995, the Jean-Louis Grippat and de Vallouit estates in 2001, and opened its own cooperage in 2003. Marcel's son Philippe officially joined as winemaker in 1997, later joined by his wife Eve, and in 2017 the family bought Château de Nalys, putting down its own roots in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This wine belongs to Guigal's "Collection" of classic Rhône appellation wines, a reference for consistency vintage after vintage.

In the pictures: Vines growing out of the famous round "galet" stones of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (photo: Megan Mallen, 2010, CC BY 2.0). The family tasting cellar at Maison Guigal in Ampuis, ringed by large oak casks (photo: courtesy of E. Guigal).