Etienne Guigal
Ermitage Ex-Voto Rouge
Hermitage
2010

The producer

Would there be a modern Rhone wine industry without Etienne Guigal? Founded in 1946 it has certainly been the success story for the region with holdings from Cote Rotie in the north through to Cotes-du Rhone in the south. Guigal sells over 4 million bottles a year!

Guigal made his reputation initially with stunning wines from Cote Rotie – which not only made his name but also, in a way, that of the whole appellation. This success allowed them to expand throughout the Rhone, buying and reviving old domaines and vineyards.

The wines they make throughout the Rhone Valley are examples of quality and consistency, none less so than their Hermitages – white and red. As with their Cote-Rotie’s they use a considerable amount of new oak and their wines are of equally resplendent character.  

The wine

Guigal Hermitage Ex Voto is produced from about 2.2 hectares of vineyards in Bessards, Greffieux, Murets, and Hermite. On average vines are over 40 years old and the wine is allowed to age for 30-36 months in 100% new French oak barrels. In recent years though, the new oak regime has been reduced and the Ex Voto as a result has taken on more freshness.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.