16
December 2002Domaine Gaillard et Maison Guigal (Condrieu)
Journalists: Ray Lazarchic, Ann Kiernan, and Tony Wolf
16
December 2002December 16: Domaine Gaillard in Condrieu (Review 1 of 2)
Our hosts were Pierre and Pascal Gaillard, who started wine production here in 1981. The vineyard we visited was high on the hills on the west side of the Rhône. The property they farm has a 40-km spread from Côte Rotie in north, to St. Joseph and Condrieu to south. When Pierre was at school in Beaune he looked at old tax records to find owners of former vineyard lands. He wanted to grow Syrah and Viognier. This is how they ended up in Malleval, where their winery is located. In addition to Syrah and Viognier, the Gaillards also grow Marsanne. Since Marsanne is not an AOC-permissible Condrieu, Marsanne is labeled as a St. Joseph, and Viognier is labeled as a Condrieu, as the site is within both the Condrieu and St. Joe appellations.
Winemaking:
Syrah - destemming behind winery, vinification done plot-by-plot to retain plot
individuality. Cold-soak up to a week followed by warm maceration (30°C)
to soften tannins. Parcels kept separate until blended at end. Whites are whole-cluster
pressed - Pierre has moved away from skin contact. Picking at 14-15% potential,
but acidity still good as berries are dehydrated and concentrating both sugar
and acid. Viognier is picked after Syrah. Viognier fermented in barrels,
with cooling via water-cooled barrel probes. Fermentation can take some time
due to high sugar (also using S. bayanus yeast). 10% of barrels are
new, with oldest at 6 to 7 years. Uses more new oak for Syrah. All Viognier
currently done in oak. pH about 3.8, and wine goes through M/L fermentation,
spontaneously. Batonage for 6 months, every week.
Wines (all from barrels)
1st wine: Roussane, 2002, sourced from plateau, difficult year with much rain at harvest. High acidity.
2nd wine: Rousanne, 2002 from slopes. Aromatics are more pronounced. Why: more heat on the slopes and less acidity than on plateau. The plateau is colder - at harvest, the plateau may be 10 to 13°C cooler than on the slope (cold winds - mistral) that affect plateau at top, but less effect on vines on slope. Soils are similar between top and slopes - the difference is the temperature.
Viognier wines: First was a 2001 bottled wine. I thought that the M/L and oak hid the fruit. Next was a barrel tasting of late-harvest Viognier - very high acidity and RS, but a nice balance. Another late-harvest Viognier was perhaps 20% RS, tasted almost like unfermented juice.
Additional
viticulture:
Brief
walk through the vineyard of property - direction of slopes (aspect) determined
whether vineyards were Condrieu or St. Joseph: south-facing slopes were Condrieu
(Viognier) while eastern slopes were St. Joseph (Syrah). Rootstock was C-3309
for both. Training was palisade (VSP) with multiple catch wires, and simple
Guyot. Vine spacing about 1.0 x 1.0 m. Rows running up and down slope - some
movement of soil from bottom back to top was required. We saw (and photographed)
evidence of erosion. When asked about labor requirements, Pierre indicated that
he employed 10 people to work 20 ha. Vines had been rough-pruned when we visited.
They use a two-part process with first part being a rough pruning and the second,
later step being the finished step of selecting a single cane to arch and tie.
Our vineyard visit was followed by a very enjoyable lunch with winemakers in the village of Malleval. Malleval is a rustic hamlet nestled between the hills that support vineyards.
Domaine Gaillard (Review 2 of 2)
Condrieu AOC -Only white wine, from Viognier grapes
Ownership: Pierre and Pascale Gaillard
Size: purchased a 40 km long parcel in 1981. Looked for property when Pierre was in school. This property was abandoned, and the Gaillards planted Syrah and Viognier.
Winemaking
Everything is de-stemmed, and vinified by plot. Different pipes lead
to different tanks. Automatic pump over is available, but Pierre prefers manual.
He starts with a week of cold maceration, then fermentation at 40° for three
weeks, punching down three times per day. Each plot is kept separate until bottling/blending.
Carbon dioxide added every few days.
Viognier and Roussanne - whole cluster, cold soak, no tartaric acid addition. This year, potential alcohol of 30%. Fermented all in barrels - no tank fermentation. Fermentation temperature 16-17° - if any lower, lose banana aroma. Usually takes about three weeks. If potential alcohol is over 14.5/15%, he adds yeast.
10% of the barrels are new, others as old as 7 years ("wood overcomes perfume"). Uses more new oak for reds. D. Gaillard has a barrel heat-exchanger system for one or two barrels. ML in everything because Pierre believes less filtering and less SO2 additions are then required. Acidity=275/280; pH=3.8. Note on sulfite addition: gas used before fermentation, tablets used after ML. Goal: 10-15 ppm free sulfur, 60-70 g/Hl total sulfur. Stir every week for six months.
Tasting:
Viticulture
20 cm short roots. Vines must be four years old for AOC wine. Maximum
yield allowed on Viognier is 25-30 hL/hectare. Pierre prefers the Roussanne
to the Marsanne for St. Joseph wine, due to its lower yield ("= higher quality").
Rootstock 3309.
The vineyard straddles a divide between Condrieu (south-facing) and St. Joseph. The weeds are let grow now, but there is still heavy erosion on these steep slopes. Workers carry soil back up the slope after a rainfall. Labor: 10 people for 20 acres. Stone must be broken down in order to plant. Trellis: used to be three teepee-type poles, now only two. This system holds up better under strong winds. Prune twice - November for organization, March to finish. Rainfall: 500 cm annual.
Lunch: village restaurant, salad, venison, cheese, pie, chocolate.
Lunch wines:
Maison
Guigal, Ampuis (Review 1 of 2)
Our final vineyard visit of 16 December was at Domaine Guigal in Ampuis, appellations are Condrieu and Côtes Rotie. Bruce Zoecklein and Tony Wolf had visited this producer in our 1998 visit and then, as now, our host was Phillipe Guigal, the amicable grandson of the winery's founder. Due to an unannounced visit by French wine industry regulatory personnel, our own visit was somewhat abbreviated. We did not visit vineyards here, but some information on vineyards was obtained earlier:
The actual production facility is on 1 ha of land in the town of Ampuis. It has undergone several additions in the mid-nineties and again in 1998 and they produce over 4 million bottles/year. Grapes are sourced in Côte Rotie, Condrieu, and Tain hermitage. Their own Côte Rotie vineyards are over 2,000 years old, with the Côte Blond and Côte Brun being most noteworthy. Côte Blond is the more southern, and is more limestone, while Côte Brun has more iron oxide, but is still limestone-based. The vineyards were named after twin daughters, at some distant past. Slopes are about 75% - that's steep. Plant density is around 10,000 vines/ha and yields average about 37 hL/ha.
Grapes are sourced from a number of "independent" growers - as Guigal only owned about 200 ha in Côte Rotie in 1998. We were told on this trip (2002) that Guigal had just recently purchased some additional property. In 1998, Guigal was paying the equivalent of $2.50 per pound for Viognier fruit. Not sure of current price. Sorting of fruit is extensive and detailed and a robotic sampler is used to help determine grape composition, freedom from rot, etc. Growers' contracts are not renewed if they fall short of Guigal's harvest requirements.
While both Viognier and Syrah are planted in Côte Rotie, blending is only permissible when the two are co-planted and co-harvested. Training is either simple eschalet (single stake) or eschalet, where two or three stakes are formed into a tee-pee above the vine - this to prevent wind damage to the plants. Again, we were told that this is a windy part of the Earth, but we again did not experience the infamous Mistral.
Maison
Guigal (Review
2 of 2)
Ampius, in the Condrieu and Côte-Rotie regions
Ownership: Guigal family. Phillipe's grandfather began winemaking when he was 40 years old. The family land has increased to 3.5 times its original size. Of the 5 million bottles in the Rhône valley, Guigal has the "good fortune" to only produce 1.2% - they can expand indefinitely, although Phillipe Guigal does not put a priority on expanding. The company is 100% family owned, with only 18 employees. One-quarter of the grapes processed are from family-owned vineyards.
Tour: Oldest cellar in Côte-Rotie, Roman mosaics, lead pipe, amphorae. 75% of Côte-Rotie wines produced here: La Mouline, La Landonne, La Turque, Côte Blonde, and Côte Brune. Côte-Rotie wines are made from Syrah, with up to 20% Viognier in the blend.
Maison Guigal plans to start its own co-operage.
The bottling line was running at 8000 bottles per hour, worked by three people. The rooms are held at a constant 12° temperature, with 80% humidity.
Many small producers bring their grapes to this facility, at a rate of 150-200 tons per day.
Winemaking/Viticulture
Viognier note: "2400 years ago, Viognier was the most widely
planted grape in the world. 30 years ago, there were only 30 acres." -
Phillipe Guigal.
Regular Condrieu is aged in 2/3 new barrels and 1/3 old, and averages 14.7% alcohol. The ideal temperature is 16°. Any higher, and the wine is flat. The optimal drinking age for regular Condrieu is two to three years, and eight to ten years for "special" Condrieu. 2002 was a difficult vintage for the Rhône region, although Condrieu is not as affected.
Condrieu is fined with Bentonite and sterile filtered (0.45 micron). There is no fining or filtration on the reds.
ML philosophy: don't stop until ML completed. Sometimes takes until April. This year, no malolactic fermentation yet on the reds. Viognier 100% ML. Acid and pH are not major considerations (first wine: 3.9 pH). The emphasis here is not on acid, but on body. Goal is to achieve more apricot, white peach, lichee flavors. If ML is blocked, more pear, apple, and "green" flavors occur. The wine is more stable if it goes through ML, and ultra-stability is the first priority.
Tasting:
Back to December 15 |
