Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020 - 51

O LD WO RLD

Top 100 Wineries

Domaines Ott

E. Guigal

FRANCE | PROVENCE
The Ott cousins grow wines that deﬁne Provence as a place, not
simply a state of mind.

FRANCE | RHÔNE
The Guigals produce estate-grown and négociant bottlings that
represent the Rhône at its best.

JEAN-FRANÇOIS
AND CHRISTAN OTT

FOUNDED:

1912
OWNERS:

The Rouzaud
family
WINEMAKERS/
VITICULTURISTS:

Jean-François Ott,
Christian Ott
ACRES PLANTED:

600
ANNUAL
PRODUCTION:

66,666 cases (cru
wines); 55,000
cases (By.Ott)

IT WOULD BE EASY FOR THE OTTS to sit back and
cash in on the vogue for Provence rosé. But cousins Jean-François and Christian, the fourth generation to run this estate, have no intention of
doing so. Instead, they're working on attaining
organic certiﬁcation for all of their vineyards-
some 600 acres of vines spread among three
estates. And, at Château de Selle, the family's
original vineyard, they've just opened a new winery. Built of one-ton blocks of stone offset to let
in natural light and air, it is recessed into the side
of a hill where the earth helps stabilize the building's temperature. With more room for smallparcel ferments, the gravity-ﬂow space allowed
them to make one of their greatest wines yet, the
2019 Château de Selle. -T.Q.T.

2019 Côtes de Provence Château de Selle ($55,
96 points) Château de Selle may be far inland from
the Mediterranean, but the 2019 seems to have
packaged up a sea breeze along with the scents of
strawberries and garrigue, unleashing it with every
sip. in 1912, Marcel Ott purchased this abandoned
vineyard, now 230 acres of vines on limestone terraces surrounded by forest. A blend of grenache, cinsault, syrah and mourvèdre, it's a rosé that shines in
its clarity and delicacy, as well as its quiet strength.
2018 Côtes de Provence Clos Mireille Blanc
($43, 94 points) Before rosé became the go-to wine
in Provence, white wines were the fashion, and Ott's
white from Clos Mireille brought him considerable
fame. Culled from 150 acres of vines overlooking the
sea in La Londe Les Maures, the wine blends rolle
with sémillon, a Bordeaux transplant that Ott suspected would do well in Mireille's schist soils. The
sémillon gives this 2018 an uncanny opulence for a
Provençal white, the ﬂavors building from bright lemony notes into saline, head-ﬁlling citrus richness.

IMPORTER:

Maisons Marques
& Domaines,
Oakland, CA

2015 Côte-Rôtie Château d'Ampuis ($175, 93
points) The Château d'Ampuis is Guigal's home
base, a stunning Renaissance building the family
acquired in 1995. It's now a national monument, and
also houses the Guigal's cooperage, which builds
800 oak barrels a year. They are used for the estate's
top wines, including this one, a blend of fruit from
seven old-vine parcels, aged in new barrels for 38
months. Spicy and smoky, with a fortress of tannins
protecting the ripe, red fruit, it's impressive now, and
built to become even more so with age.
FOUNDED:

1946
OWNERS:

The Guigal family
WINEMAKER/
VITICULTURIST:

Philippe Guigal

2019 Bandol Château Romassan Rosé ($55, 90
points) The Ott family added this Bandol estate to
the portfolio in 1956; today, Jean-François and Christian Ott are converting the vineyards to organic farming. This 2019 is as pretty as its pale pink hue, with
scents of wild strawberries and cream.

2018 Condrieu ($68, 93 points) Part of Guigal's
négociant line, this shows viognier in all its silky,
peachy opulence, elevated by the savor and structure
imbued by Condrieu's challengingly steep, cool vineyards. One-third of the wine fermented in new barrels,
the rest in stainless steel tanks, creating a balance of
sumptuous ﬂavor and refreshing acidity.

ACRES OWNED:

334
ANNUAL

ESTATE GROWN:

100% cru wines,
50% By.Ott

PHILIPPE GUIGAL

THE GUIGALS CLAIM SOME OF THE choicest vineyards in the Northern Rhône, thanks to Etienne
Guigal, who founded the estate in 1946, back
when apricots were more proﬁtable than grapes
in Côte-Rôtie. He and his son, Marcel, who took
over in 1961, were integral to saving the region's
winegrowing traditions, over time acquiring
nearly 100 acres in Côte-Rôtie and another 42 in
Condrieu. Together, they developed a négociant
line that kept hundreds of the region's small
growers in business.
Philippe Guigal, Marcel's son, has continued to build the company's assets since joining
in 1997, extending its land holdings as far south
as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with the recent additions of Château de Nalys and Domaine Les
Clefs d'Or. At the end of the day, however, it's
the grower relationships that the Guigals have
forged over generations that enable them to
put out exceptionally good $15 Côtes du Rhône
wines as well as profound, long-lived estategrown wines from exalted sites in Condrieu and
Côte-Rôtie. -T.Q.T.

PRODUCTION:

700,000 cases
ESTATE GROWN :
25%
IMPORTER:

Vintus, NY

2016 Gigondas ($20, 93 points) Guigal has been
increasingly taking a leadership position in the south,
shown in vineyard acquisitions as well as in wines
like this Gigondas. Aged two years in foudres (half
new), it's herbal and spicy, with a lovely minty edge
to the tart-cherry ﬂavors of grenache. It feels full and
lively, layered and elegant, delicious now and structured to age well.
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