E. Guigal
Condrieu La Doriane 2017
Condrieu
Condrieu is the ancestral home of the Viognier vine and is the source of one of the world’s most exotic white wines. In the mid-20th century, only 20 acres of Viognier remained in Condrieu, leaving the grape and the appellation in serious jeopardy. Guigal was instrumental in bringing this appellation back from near extinction, and today supplements the grapes from their own vineyards with grapes purchased from numerous small growers, ultimately vinifying nearly one-third of the entire appellation.
La Doriane is a luxury cuvée of Condrieu that the Guigals have produced since the 1994 vintage. A great success since the first vintage, the wine always seems richly oaked and very fruity when young, transforming in 3-4 years into a seamlessly complex, aromatic and vibrant wine. La Doriane contradicts the accepted wisdom that Condrieu does not age well.
VINEYARD
The tiny, parcelated appellation (500 acres total) is located on steep granite hillsides beginning at a bend in the Rhône river just south of Côte Rôtie and continuing intermittently about 12 miles further south. The granite hillsides have sand intermixed in their soils, and the vines for this wine average around 30 years of age, and only produce around 2.4 tons of fruit per acre.
The Viognier grapes for this wine are sourced from some of the finest sites in the appellation, including Côtes Chatillon, a steeply terraced vineyard overlooking the town of Condrieu itself. The other vineyards are Coteaux de Chery and Colombier, situated further south, and Château Volan – an exceptionally steep, south-facing vineyard near the town of Malleval.
WINEMAKING
This 100% Viognier wine is fermented and aged in 100% new oak barriques for 12 months, with a higher level of fine lees included in the fermenting must to help the wine integrate the oak character more completely. It undergoes 100% malolactic fermentation as well.
VINTAGE
Very challenging climatic conditions prompted harvest 10-15 days earlier than usual. There was not heavy rainfall, despite a few storms in August and September. Though lower yields, the wine produced is of excellent quality. There is harmony between a pleasant low acidity and a fruit that bathes in a fleshy roundness.
TASTING NOTE
This wine shows freshness and pure elegance in the glass. Citrus blossom, crushed rocks, honeysuckle, and orange blossom give way to a medium to full-bodied expression of the vineyard. It lingers and gains depth over time in the glass. A joy to drink, and will continue to improve with time.
Color
White
Grape Varieties
Viognier
Appellation
Condrieu
Farming
Guigal performs several green harvests during the growing season in these vineyards to keep yields exceptionally low.
Suggested Retail Price
$140
Reviews
Wine Advocate - March 26, 2019 "Slightly more forward and flamboyant than the more classically structured 2016, the 2017 Condrieu la Doriane is full-bodied, plush and opulent, loaded with flowers, melons and apricots. Yes, the oak is noticeable, but it adds a relatively restrained note of toasted almonds, serving to focus and lift the waves of succulent fruit. I'd drink this silky-textured beauty over the next few years, while it's still as showy as can be."
Jeb Dunnuck - May 20, 2019 "Bottled at the end of June and brought up in new barrels, the blockbuster 2017 Condrieu La Doriane is up there with the crème de la crème, and just might be the wine of the vintage in the region. Stunning notes of buttered peach, crème brûlée, white flowers, and honeysuckle all literally soar from the glass. Deep, rich, medium to full-bodied and powerful, like the base cuvée, it stays incredibly pure and elegant. Drink bottles over the coming 4-5 years. Don’t miss it."
"Drive throughout"
Wine Spectator - August 28, 2019 "Intense, with a honeyed edge, this maintains drive throughout, featuring intense apricot, nectarine and peach fruit flavors, lined with mouthwatering bitter orange and anise notes. The long, unctuous finish has serious cut to match. Drink now through 2025. 1,667 cases made, 500 cases imported"
"Seamless and subtly sweet"
Vinous - May 29, 2020
"Limpid yellow. White peach, melon, smoky minerals and exotic flowers on the intensely perfumed nose, which picks up a hint of vanilla as the wine stretches out. Juicy and deeply concentrated, offering palate-staining orchard and pit fruit nectar, orange zest and honeysuckle flavors that are lifted and sharpened by a smoky mineral quality. Seamless and subtly sweet on the impressively persistent finish, which repeats the pit fruit and floral notes."
More on Condrieu La Doriane 2017
Old Reliable: Rhône Mainstay E. Guigal’s 2017 Vintage
December 6, 2018 - Summarizing James Molesworth's latest Wine Spectator feature on E. Guigal's 2017 vintage would not do it justice. We highly encourage you to read through the detailed article, which features several…
100 Tastes from the Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting
December 6, 2018 - While quarantined at home, Alder Yarrow reflected on his experience at the Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting event this past fall in San Francisco. He highlighted the 100 most…
Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
Saint Joseph Vignes de l’Hospice
Saint-Joseph
Guigal’s Vignes de l’Hospice is one of the finest sites in the Northern Rhone Valley. This steeply terraced vineyard used to be divided into three, but Guigal now owns majority of this parcel in order to restore perception of Saint-Joseph as an appellation of utmost quality. In fact, Guigal is often asked when they will produce a fourth “LaLa,” and their response is that their fourth single vineyard phenomenon of the Northern Rhone is already being produced: the Vignes de l’Hospice.
Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
Côte-Rôtie
One of the three “LaLa” wines that Guigal produces and are the most collectible wines of the Rhone Valley, La Landonne is a remarkable expression of terroir. And for good reason, La Landonne is situated on one of the steepest vineyards of the Côte Brune, a 45 degree slope that remarkably requires harvesters to start picking from the bottom of the vineyard and work their way up, placing grape bunches in bins that are set on sleds and dragged up the hill. Along with its position at the northern end of the Côte Brune and the fact it is the last vineyard to ripen, La Landonne is the mirror of the feminine and voluptuous La Mouline: it is a wine of driving power, defined by its dark fruit and structure. The first vintage Guigal produced was in 1978, after being planted in 1975 at the time of Philippe Guigal’s birth.
Côte-Rôtie La Turque
Côte-Rôtie
Of the three famous single-vineyard “LaLas” that Guigal produces and are the most collectible wines of the Rhone Valley, La Turque is the newest. This vineyard produced outstanding wines in the first half of the 20th century, but then was not used for wine production for nearly 50 years. The Guigals acquired the vineyard and re-planted it in 1980 and 1981, based on Etienne Guigal’s memory of the quality of the wines it once produced. The first vintage appeared in 1985. In both position and style, it sits between La Mouline and La Landonne: the complex soils lend an exotic character to La Turque, and its concentration and elegance exhibit the virility of the Côte Brune with the subtlety and femininity of the Côte Blonde.
Côte-Rôtie La Mouline
Côte-Rôtie
First planted by the Romans 2,500 years ago, La Mouline is the oldest and most famous vineyard of Cote-Rotie, and Guigal’s single vineyard bottling of La Mouline in the 1960s set off a quality revolution throughout the Rhone Valley. The stunning amphitheater is the most complex plot in Cote-Rotie due to its extremely steep slopes with expositions in every direction. Of the three famous “LaLas” that Guigal produces and are the most collectible wines of the Rhone Valley, La Mouline was the first and is the only one on the Cote Blonde, and its signature is an unbelievable exoticism, an irresistibly and unique lifted floral, black fruit, earthy, spicy perfume, its coiled power always in balance, seemingly endless.
Ermitage Ex Voto Rouge
Hermitage
Ermitage Ex-Voto represents the fulfillment of a longtime dream of Marcel Guigal’s to own vineyard land on the hill of Hermitage. Through the purchase of the de Vallouit and J. L. Grippat domaines in 2000, Guigal acquired four exceptional vineyard parcels on this legendary site. The 2001 vintage was the first release of this estate-bottled Hermitage red and white. The quality of the intense old-vine fruit is quite special, but given the Guigal’s already strong work in Hermitage, they decided to only release an Ex-Voto red or white when the wine is utterly exceptional and clearly superior to their appellation bottlings.
Ermitage Ex Voto Blanc
Hermitage
Ermitage Ex-Voto represents the fulfillment of a longtime dream of Marcel Guigal’s to own vineyard land on the hill of Hermitage. Through the purchase of the de Vallouit and J. L. Grippat domaines in 2000, Guigal acquired four exceptional vineyard parcels on this legendary site. The 2001 vintage was the first release of this estate-bottled Hermitage red and white. The quality of the intense old-vine fruit is quite special, but given the Guigal’s already strong work in Hermitage, they decided to only release an Ex-Voto red or white when the wine is utterly exceptional and clearly superior to their appellation bottlings.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Guigal produces an intensely concentrated, inviting and complex Châteauneuf-du-Pape that is almost unique to the region today. Their passion for Châteauneuf, the leading appellation of the Southern Rhône, runs as deeply as that for their home sites in the Northern Rhône. The combination of working with top fruit that has perfect ripeness, along with their extraordinary patience in the cellar, results in rich and full, yet savory, spicy, seamless and balanced wines. Wines to enjoy immediately but capable of aging, and, above all, wines that leave you wanting more.
Hermitage Blanc
Hermitage
Whites make up a small percentage of production in the Rhône, under 2%, but white wines are a little bit of a secret specialty at Guigal and today comprise 25% of their production. And for good reason, as the whites of the Northern Rhône are true discovery wines, immensely appealing and complex. They specifically display an expressiveness and brightness while also capturing the warmth of the area. Even more of a discovery is Hermitage Blanc, one of the least-known yet most intriguing wines of the Rhône Valley and in the small 309 acre Hermitage AOC.
Hermitage
Hermitage
Hermitage is one of France’s most spectacular and famous appellations, producing small quantities of extraordinarily intense and ageworthy red wine and tiny amounts of dry white. The entire vineyard consists of 309 acres planted on a single granite hillside on the banks of the Rhône. The Hermitage Rouge is the example of a racy wine, that manages to remain seductive.