If you drink New Zealand Syrah and enjoy full bodied reds, our winery of the month this October is sure to hit the spot. Guigal is the name and it's one of the great family owned wineries of the world, making millions of bottles of very good to outstanding quality wine every year from nearly every appellation in the northern Rhone Valley and many in the southern Rhone too. 

Guigal was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in Ampuis, a village in Ampuis in the Cote Rotie appellation - one of the France's greatest wine regions. Etienne's son, Marcel, took over the running  of the business in 1961 and now his son, Marcel, is in charge of winemaking. 

The father-son duo run Guigal today and are as famous for not travelling as they are for making great red and white wines. Their business is based in the northern Rhone, which makes up 5% of the entire Rhone Valley's wine production and includes all of the premium Syrah in the region. 

The Rhone Valley is one place but is divided into two very separate parts. The north makes its small proportion of structured red wines while the warmer, Mediterranean climate of the southern Rhone Valley produces softer, plusher, more approachable red wines, usually with the Grenache grape playing the leading role in blends, which are typically supplemented with Syrah. Smaller portions of other grapes are also often added. These include Mourvedré, Cinsault, Carignan and some other grapes, including whites, such as Viognier, are added into red blends but only as a small portion of the overall wine. 

The wines

The leading light of Guigal is its Cotes du Rhone - a big, soft, loveable red that offers is stunning lush, plush, soft, smooth and fleshy flavours, offering outstanding value for money. 

Staggeringly good - 4.5 million bottles of it are made each year.

2018 Guigal Cotes du Rhone

RRP $28.99 Special $24.99

Guigal Cotes du Rhone is a stunningly tasty blend of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre and aged for 18 months in large oak foudres in the northern Rhone, in Ampuis, where this humble wine joins its more illustriously regarded, higher priced siblings from Guigal. Long skin maceration time provides depth and richness to this dry, full bodied, soft red wine, which is made from vines with an average age of 35 years. 

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2019 Guigal Crozes-Hermitage RRP $53.99

Special price commences on 1 October

Big, dark Syrah from Crozes-Hermitage, which takes its name from the hill of Hermitage in the northern Rhone. This is the little sibling to the Hermitage and offers similarly beautiful floral aromas with approachable flavours and structure for now as well as the ability to age for up to 10 years, due to its firm smooth balanced and high tannins. 

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2019 Guigal Gigondas RRP $60.99

Special price commences on 1 October

Silky, smooth and seductive blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Mourvedré, offering silky elegance and plush approachability right now with further potential for ageing - but why would you? 

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