2017 E. Guigal Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde 750 ml

The time and place don’t matter: When we see E. Guigal’s Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde on a wine list, whether in a modest bistro in the Northern Rhône or a Michelin-starred restaurant in Napa or New York, we order it. 

It’s not just that the savory, dense, and complex red is capable of carrying any meal—it’s because Brune et Blonde has virtually no competition at its price point, delivering as much bang for the buck as any under-$100 red wine we’ve tasted. And grown in one of the greatest vintages of the decade and crafted by the father-and-son team that Robert Parker says “consistently fashion some of the greatest wines in the world,” the inky, brooding 2017 is simply stunning.

With the opulence and power of a Napa wine yet laden with Old World savoriness, the first swirl reveals powerful and dense fruit, alive with savory smoked meat, cracked black pepper, clove, sandalwood, and dried herbs. Every sip reveals a new layer of ripe blackberry and raspberry fruit, until it finishes with stout and suede-textured tannins. It’s the perfect combination of drink-now Northern Rhône complexity, and the age-worthiness that marks the Guigal family’s flagship bottlings. 

Guigal’s collector-showpiece bottles go for $350+. The same cellar-worthy class and impeccable winemaking is available in the Brune et Blonde for just $68. For under $100—let alone under $70—there’s no dollar better spent in the world of wine.

Guigal doesn’t just stand at the top of the Rhône hierarchy: According to Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, “There is no winemaker on planet Earth who has produced so many compelling wines, irrespective of vintage conditions, as Marcel Guigal.”  

The most famous wines in the Guigal domaine are known as the Trésors, or “Treasures”: The small-production La Mouline, La Landonne, and La Turque bottlings from Côte-Rôtie are bucket-list wines, exquisite expressions of the Northern Rhône that are coveted by collectors and can cost more than a car payment. Fortunately, Brune et Blonde does not share the same price tag—but does share the same DNA.

Hailing from the same vertiginous slopes as the top wines from Guigal, Brune et Blonde’s name derives from the two most crucial terroirs in the Côte-Rôtie appellation. Both located on slopes near the village of Ampuis, the Côte Blonde (source of La Mouline) faces south, consists of sandy slate soils with a significant limestone component, and produces wines that are relatively soft and enjoyable early. The southwest-facing Côte Brune (source of La Turque and La Landonne) on the other hand, boasts dense soils of schist and heavy clay rich in iron, giving tighter, smokier, more age-demanding wines. 

Grapes from 35-year-old vines planted on the two terroirs come together beautifully in Brune et Blonde, which is always approachable early, yet capable of cellaring for a decade or more. Aged for 26 months in 50% new French oak, the 2017 is laden with muscular red fruit, accented by exotic spice and smoke, and built on a stout frame that will yield huge rewards in the cellar. 

It’s one of our can’t-miss, never-pass-up reds, and we’re thrilled to share this vintage with you.