Born in Lyon, Guillaume Gilles dreamed from the age of eight of following his grandfather Marcel Juge, a highly respected vigneron in Cornas. His chance came in 2000, when Robert Michel took him on as an apprentice. He stayed until Robert retired in 2006, spent a stint with Jean-Louis Chave in Hermitage, then went out on his own in 2007, renting 2ha from Robert in the lieu-dit of Chaillot. The vines here average 40 years old, planted by Robert with a myriad of massale clippings and clones on extremely steep south to south-east facing slopes. Guillaume now farms 5ha, mostly in Cornas, including a high-altitude site at Les Rieux (400 to 450m) that gives a more delicate, perfumed style rarely above 13%.

Everything in the vineyard is done by hand, and he has been certified organic since 2020. The cellar is deliberately hands-off: whole bunches, native yeasts, no fining or filtration, and 18 months in older demi-muids and 400-litre barrels. As he puts it, his job is to try not to screw it up by interfering as little as possible. The wines are surprisingly approachable young, but age brilliantly, with true Cornas character. A future star in the making.