Côte-Rôtie AOC

INAO's cahier des charges calls the Côte-Rôtie vines probably among the oldest in the Rhône Valley, citing a Roman mosaic from Saint-Romain-en-Gal of the early 3rd century that shows a harvest and grape treading. The cahier lists Celsus, Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Columella and Martial among ancient authors who mention the Allobrogica, a wine of Vienne. Inter Rhône adds that the first written documentation naming Ampuis and Côte-Rôtie dates back to the 6th century, and that in the 18th century the wines graced the tables of princes in England, Russia and Prussia. According to Inter Rhône, the vineyards were at their peak by 1890. Accounts of the late 19th century differ: INAO's cahier says phylloxera destroyed a large part of the vineyard, while Inter Rhône says the vineyards escaped the devastating effects of phylloxera. INAO says the First World War and then the industrialisation of the Rhône Valley drastically reduced the labour these steep slopes need, and Inter Rhône says some 150 local winegrowers were killed in that war. Inter Rhône says only about 60 hectares remained planted by 1960. INAO dates the start of the vineyard's renaissance to the 1960s, the Côte-Rôtie ODG to the 1970s, and Inter Rhône to the 1980s. The decree of 18 October 1940 recognised the appellation on the communes of Ampuis and Tupin-Semons, according to INAO.

• INAO's cahier cites 1592 as one of the oldest written traces of the established reputation of Ampuis wines, and dates the oldest written use of the name Côte Rôtie to at least 1698
• Decanter's James Lawther MW wrote in 1999 that the appellation had only 50 hectares in production in the 1960s, and that the revival of interest in Northern Rhône wines in the late 1970s was spearheaded by the growing reputation of Etablissements Guigal in Ampuis
• INAO's cahier records that by 2010 the vines again occupied the surfaces that existed before the phylloxera crisis

INAO's cahier places the vineyard about forty kilometres south of Lyon, on the eastern edge of the Massif Central, on very steep slopes above the right bank of the Rhône facing the southern part of Vienne. Inter Rhône gives an altitude range of 180 to 325 metres. The two local bodies describe the gradient differently: Inter Rhône says the slopes reach gradients of over 60° in places, while the Côte-Rôtie ODG says the steepest slopes can reach 60% inclination. The ODG says almost all the vines grow on metamorphic rock, in three broad zones: mica schist in the north of the appellation, gneiss in the south, and migmatite in the extreme south. INAO calls the climate here semi-continental, with the last Mediterranean influences reaching up the Rhône Valley; the north wind, locally called the Bise, is frequent, and the vineyard's general south-east orientation leaves it relatively sheltered and sunny. On the Côte Blonde, INAO says the crumbly sandy clay soils, called arzel, cannot be farmed without dry-stone walls known locally as cheys; on the Côte Brune, the more clay-rich soil is laid out in narrow terraces called chaillées.

• Côte Brune: INAO describes a mica-schist substratum giving darker soils that are less siliceous, more clay-rich and richer in iron
• Côte Blonde: INAO describes a substratum mostly of gneiss giving light-coloured siliceous soils, fairly often recalcified by loess deposits from the plateau
• Decanter's Matt Walls (2021) explains that Côte Brune and Côte Blonde are two lieux-dits sitting almost side by side above Ampuis, and that the whole northern half of the appellation is often called 'the Côte Brune' locally and the southern half 'the Côte Blonde'

INAO's cahier names Syrah as the principal variety and Viognier as the only accessory variety. Syrah must make up at least 80% of each holding's plantings and at least 80% of the blend, and Viognier is allowed interplanted in Syrah parcels up to 20% of the vines. Wines made from both varieties must be vinified from the grapes blended together in the same proportion. In practice, Decanter's Matt Walls wrote in 2021 that more than 10% Viognier is rare, and that the variety is more commonly planted on the blonde side. INAO's cahier also notes that interplanted Syrah and Viognier parcels are found more often on the Côte Blonde than the Côte Brune. On winemaking, the Côte-Rôtie ODG says each grower chooses between whole bunches and destemmed grapes and ferments in vessels such as stainless steel, concrete, amphora or wooden foudres, and that most growers age their wines in barriques for between 12 and 48 months depending on the cuvée. INAO's cahier describes dark, almost black wines that evolve toward garnet, with black fruit and spice on the nose, sometimes violet when Viognier is present, and silky tannins.

• Guigal's own technical sheet (accessed 2026) for Côte-Rôtie 'La Mouline' gives 89% Syrah and 11% Viognier from a vineyard in the heart of the Côte Blonde, aged 40 months in new oak
• Guigal's sheet (accessed 2026) for Côte-Rôtie 'La Landonne' gives 100% Syrah (whole harvest), aged 40 months in new oak, on limestone clay very rich in iron oxide
• Domaine Jamet's own site (accessed 2026) describes its Côte Rôtie as 100% Syrah from twenty parcels, made essentially from whole bunches and matured for 22 months in barrels, 15% of them new

Maison Guigal's own history page says the house was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in Ampuis, that his son Marcel Guigal later took over management, that it bought the Vidal-Fleury establishment at the beginning of the 1980s, and that it acquired the Château d'Ampuis in 1995. Decanter's James Lawther MW wrote in 1999 that Marcel Guigal released La Mouline from a vineyard in the Côte Blonde in 1966 and La Landonne from the Côte Brune in 1978, and that La Mouline and La Turque are not registered lieux-dits but are listed as trade names. Guigal's own site says La Landonne was planted in 1975, describes La Turque as coming from Côte Brune terroirs 'with blond accents', and lists seven plots for its Château d'Ampuis bottling: Le Clos, La Garde and La Grande Plantée on the Côte Blonde, and La Pommière, Le Pavillon Rouge, Le Moulin and La Viria on the Côte Brune. Domaine Jamet, run by Jean-Paul Jamet, his wife Corinne and their elder son Loïc according to the domaine's site, lies on a plateau known as Le Vallin.

• Guigal 'La Mouline': Côte Blonde; 89% Syrah, 11% Viognier; 40 months in new oak (Guigal)
• Guigal 'La Landonne': Côte Brune; planted 1975; 100% Syrah; 40 months in new oak (Guigal)
• Guigal 'La Turque': 93% Syrah, 7% Viognier; 40 months in new oak (Guigal)

INAO's cahier des charges for Côte-Rôtie, homologated by decree no. 2011-1363 of 24 October 2011 and in the version approved by INAO's national committee on 30 November 2023, reserves the appellation for still red wines. The delimited parcel area was approved by INAO's national committee on 12 February 1969. Vines must be planted at a minimum density of 6,000 per hectare with rows no more than 2 metres apart, and pruned to a maximum of 10 buds per vine as gobelet, cordon de Royat or single Guyot. Grapes must be harvested by hand and reach at least 171 grams of sugar per litre of must, and the wines must have a minimum natural alcohol of 10.5%. The base yield is 40 hl/ha, the rendement butoir is 46 hl/ha, and the whole crop loses the appellation above 60 hl/ha. The cahier bans oak chips and continuous presses, and caps total alcohol after enrichment at 13%. No classification of vineyards appears in the cahier, but labels may name a smaller geographical unit if it is a lieu-dit cadastré listed on the harvest declaration, and may add the larger unit 'Cru des Côtes du Rhône' or 'Vignobles de la Vallée du Rhône'.

• Syrah at least 80% of the blend; Viognier interplanted in Syrah parcels up to 20% of the vines; wines from both varieties vinified from the blended grapes (INAO)
• Inter Rhône (accessed 2026) counts 73 officially registered lieux-dits and the Côte-Rôtie ODG (accessed 2026) 75; Decanter's Matt Walls (2021) also gives 73 official lieux-dits
• Minimum density 6,000 vines/ha; hand harvest; minimum natural alcohol 10.5%; yield 40 hl/ha, rendement butoir 46 hl/ha (INAO)

Ampuis sits at the heart of the Côte-Rôtie appellation, according to Maison Guigal, whose base is the Château d'Ampuis. INAO's cahier notes that the Marché aux vins d'Ampuis has been organised every year since 1928, and Inter Rhône calls January's wine market in Ampuis a major annual event for the appellation. The Côte-Rôtie ODG lists the 97th edition for 22 to 25 January 2027, with more than 300 wines on 66 growers' stands. Guigal says it opened Le Caveau du Château, a wine tourism space with a museum of objects from the family's collection, in January 2020. INAO's cahier notes that the Gallo-Roman site of Saint-Romain-en-Gal, known for mosaics from Roman villas, adjoins the vineyard.

• Marché aux vins d'Ampuis: held annually since 1928 (INAO); 97th edition 22 to 25 January 2027 (Côte-Rôtie ODG)
• Le Caveau du Château at Château d'Ampuis: opened January 2020 (Guigal)
• The Côte-Rôtie ODG suggests grilled, braised and sauced meats, mushroom dishes, game, terrines, truffle and chocolate with the wines

Primary sources (INAO, Inter Rhône and the Côte-Rôtie ODG): https://extranet.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/PNO2023AOPCoteRotie.pdf, https://www.vins-rhone.com/en/cotes-du-rhone-cru-aoc-cote-rotie, https://www.cote-rotie.com/, https://www.cote-rotie.com/cote-rotie/, https://www.cote-rotie.com/le-syndicat-de-cote-rotie/. Producer sources (own sites): https://www.guigal.com/en/wine/cote-rotie-la-mouline/, https://www.guigal.com/en/wine/cote-rotie-la-landonne/, https://www.guigal.com/en/wine/cote-rotie-la-turque/, https://www.guigal.com/en/wine/cote-rotie-chateau-dampuis/, https://www.guigal.com/en/wine/cote-rotie-brune-blonde-de-guigal/, https://www.guigal.com/en/maison-guigal/our-history/, https://www.guigal.com/en/vignoble/cote-rotie/, https://www.cote-rotie-jamet.com/en/domaine, https://www.cote-rotie-jamet.com/en/vin/2/cote-rotie. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/premium/walls-brune-and-blonde-soils-in-cote-rotie-do-they-really-make-all-the-difference-464946/, https://www.decanter.com/magazine/cote-rotie-vignerons-prefer-blondes-249893/. Last verified 2026-09-24