Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
Lyon (67km/41 miles).
steepled turrets we usually associate with
French châteaux (turrets that, ironically,
you can see in Euro Disney), but it is fun,
frivolous, and absolutely engaging.
L
$$$
Radisson SAS Hotel,
rue 129
Servient, Lyon (
&
33/4/78 63 55 00;
www.radissonsas.com). $$
Grand Hotel-
Boscolo Hotels,
rue Groleé 11, Lyon (
&
33/
4/7240-4545;
www.boscolohotels.com).
Duboeuf en Beaujolais,
La Gare,
Romaneche Thorins (
&
33/3/85 35 22 22;
www.hameauduvin.com).
France
320
Guigal
From the Terraces
Rhone Valley, France
The vineyards of the Côte Rôtie are star-
tling. Steep hills are carved with lines of
rock wall and vines in what resembles the
multiple tiers of a bucolic wedding cake.
Called “the roasted slope” because of its
ample sunlight, the appellation is centered
around the town of Ampuis in the north-
ern Rhone, 55km (34 miles) south of Lyon.
The region is unusual in that it allows the
white grape Viognier to be blended with
the red grape Syrah, resulting in a wine
that is both meaty and floral. The region
itself is split into two subregions, a blonde
and a brunette known as Côte Blonde and
Côte Brune, apparently after an ancient
landlord divided his property between his
two daughters.
Côte Rotie is now famous around the
world, and such recognition can be put
down to one man—Marcel Guigal, owner
of E. Guigal, the biggest exporter of Côte
Rotie wine. Often a winery's success
results from one person's force of person-
ality, and this is the case with Marcel Gui-
gal. When Guigal inherited his father's
vineyard in 1961 at the age of 17, it was a
small operation that made little money.
The postwar years had been tough; few
people could afford such prestigious wine.
Little can you tell from the cramped offices
he shares with his wife and son that it is
now the headquarters of a global wine
empire that ships $50 million worth of
wine a year.
Guigal was an innovator who fought to
push forgotten winemaking methods
through France's legendary wine bureau-
cracy. His introduction of new oak barrels
in the early days met stiff resistance; it was
even labeled illegal. He persevered, how-
ever, and now it's accepted practice to
store wine in new oak barrels to mature.
He also fought town planners who
schemed to rip up the sacred vines and
build houses. He frowned upon the exces-
sive use of weed killer, and was one of the
earliest proponents of organic farming,
again accepted practice today.
The winery itself is a delightful surprise.
From the outside it looks unassuming; a
cream-colored townhouse on a tidy village
street. You immediately know you are in for
something different, though, when you find
yourself in a light-filled conservatory over-
looking a pretty courtyard of low buildings
with terra-cotta-tiled roofs and arched
walkways. Inside, it gets high-tech—the
winemaker's control panel would not look
out of place in the cockpit of the Starship
Enterprise
. Just when you think you have
seen enough of huge vaulted cellars and
rooms crammed with gleaming stainless
steel tanks, the extensive property opens
up into delightful gardens with lily ponds
