E. Guigal
Côte-Rôtie La Turque 2021
Cote-Rotie
La Turque is Guigal’s most recent addition to the single-vineyard Cru Côte-Rôties, coming over as part of their purchase of the Vidal-Fleury firm in 1980. La Turque had produced outstanding wines in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but had not been 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 produced during his tenure at Vidal-Fleury. The first vintage was the magnificent 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.
VINEYARD
Situated just north of the Côte Blonde in the Côte Brune, this 1ha vineyard is planted in silicon limestone with schist that produces clay soils rich in iron oxide. La Turque’s steep slope and perfect southern exposure means it is the vineyard in the Côte-Rôtie to see the first rays of sunshine in the morning. It is planted with 93% Syrah and 3% Viognier.
WINEMAKING
Fermentation takes about four weeks and occurs in stainless steel vats with punch downs during maceration. It ages for 42 months in new oak barrels made by Guigal’s cooperage at the Château d’Ampuis.
VINTAGE
The 2021 vintage had weather challenges, namely frost and hail, but produced high-quality, fresh, structured wines with good acidity, despite lower yields and a late harvest.
TASTING NOTE
With intense aromas of red and black berries and morello cherry, the supple attack leads into a wine fully expressive of its terroir, showing both the power of the Côte Brune marked by the delicacy of the Côte Blonde.
FOOD PAIRING
Roast duck, aged Comté
Color
Red
Blend %
100% Syrah
Appellation
Cote-Rotie
Alcohol
13%
Suggested Retail Price
$621.99
Reviews
Wine Advocate - November 20, 2025 "The 2021 Côte-Rôtie La Turque is highly representative of its terroir despite the challenges of the vintage. Unfurling with aromas of dark fruits, spices, cinnamon, iris and blackberries, it is full-bodied, concentrated and firmly structured, with a deep core of fruit framed by powdery tannins, concluding with a mocha-inflected finish. While it may lack the sheer opulence of sunnier years, it retains impressive depth and authority, and its terroir expression should become even more articulate with time in the cellar."
James Suckling - April 14, 2025 "In spite of the cool 2021 vintage, this complex Cote Rotie has excellent smoke, tar and pepper aromas plus some gingerbread and candied oranges. A very elegant expression of this site that has the concentration we expect. Great length, the oak beautifully integrated in the very long, sophisticated finish."
Jeb Dunnuck - May 9, 2025 "More concentrated and darker in style, the La Turque reveals blackberries, smoked meats, and graphite, with a meaty, almost La Landonne-like character. A blend of 93% Syrah and 7% Viognier brought up in new French oak for 42 months, it's medium to full-bodied and concentrated, with terrific mid-palate depth and ripe tannins."
Vinous - April 5, 2024 "The medium-bodied 2021 Côte-Rôtie La Turque offers up ripe fruits paired with meaty undertones and a splash of menthol. Vivid freshness marks the seamless palate, wrapped in a refined tannic structure. Ending with elegance on the savory finale, the 2021 is less punchy compared to the 2020 and 2022, yet it presents wonderful purity and expressiveness."
Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
Côte-Rôtie La Reynarde
Côte-Rôtie
From a steep Côte Brune vineyard planted in 2010 to honor the birth of Philippe Guigal’s twin sons, La Reynarde is 100% Syrah grown on granite, schist and iron-rich clay. Fermented whole cluster with punch-downs and aged 40 months in new Guigal cooperage barrels, it sits stylistically between La Turque and La Landonne, delivering polished tannins and dark, smoky power.
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 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.
