100% Viognier

Food pairings: As an aperitif, or with foie gras, scrambled eggs with truffles, and delicate fish; also lovely with lobster, crab cakes, seared scallops in brown butter, Dijon-tarragon roast chicken, mushroom risotto, and aromatic, not-too-spicy Thai dishes.

Winemaking: The grapes are harvested and sorted by hand. One third of the wine is fermented at low temperature in new oak barrels, made in Guigal's own cooperage at Château d'Ampuis, and the remaining two thirds in stainless-steel tanks; the wine goes fully through malolactic fermentation and is aged for eight months in the same vessels before bottling. 2020 was another drought year in the Northern Rhône, with a mild winter, early budbreak and the lowest rainfall in more than 30 years, yet the summer heat came without the spikes of 2019 and the crop ripened evenly. Harvest in Condrieu ran from August 26 to September 12, bringing in clean, concentrated Viognier that made rich yet balanced wines with excellent freshness, delicious young and over the next few years. Serve at 12-13°C (54-55°F).

Vineyards and terroir: Condrieu is one of the most distinctive white-wine appellations in the world, a tiny, parcelled area of steep granite hillsides that begins at a bend in the Rhône just south of Côte-Rôtie and runs intermittently for about 12 miles to the south. The vines, about 25 years old on average, grow on sand and granite on steep terraced slopes, still worked by hand in the traditional way. Viognier was once close to disappearing here, and Marcel Guigal was among the few influential figures who helped save the grape and its appellation.

Family and history: Maison Guigal was founded in 1946 by Étienne Guigal in Ampuis, an ancient village at the heart of Côte-Rôtie, where he had arrived in 1924 at the age of 14 and went on to make wine for 67 vintages. His son Marcel took over in 1961, when Étienne was struck by temporary but total blindness, and with his wife Bernadette, who joined him in 1973, expanded the family business. In 1995 the family bought the historic Château d'Ampuis on the banks of the Rhône, restored it over many years, and in 2003 opened its own cooperage there. Their son Philippe officially joined as winemaker in 1997 and, with his wife Eve, represents the third generation. Every blend is still created by father and son in the family tasting cellar, true to the motto on the walls of the château: "Nul bien sans peine," no pain, no gain.

In the pictures: The Guigal family, Eve, Philippe, Bernadette and Marcel Guigal, in the tasting cellar in front of the carved La Turque and La Doriane casks (photo: © E. Guigal, press kit). Château d'Ampuis and its gardens, with the Côte-Rôtie slopes behind (photo: © E. Guigal, press kit). Viognier vines on stakes in the Condrieu appellation in autumn (photo: Olivier Lemoine, 2016, CC BY-SA 4.0).