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Moulin de la Gardette
Gigondas is the most exciting wine village in the Southern Rhône at the moment. Beyond its sleepy medieval façade and long-standing inferiority complex vis-à-vis Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, a Cru since 1971, is now re-establishing itself as a key appellation. It was ever thus, and the name itself (from the Latin jocunditas, meaning ‘merry city’) hints at an approach to life which is not without its merits.
Jean-Baptiste Meunier took over this ancient family estate (dating from 1670, it is even older than Berry Bros and Rudd!) in 1988 and has quietly brought it to its current size of 9 hectares, with some of the Grenache vines now having achieved centurion status. Organic by inclination and with the occasional biodynamic impulse, Jean-Baptiste makes some of the best Gigondas that is available today.
Their Gigondas Tradition is a blend of 80% Grenache, 10% Cinsault and 10% Mourvèdre. 10% is raised in used Burgundian barrels but the majority of the wine has been both fermented and matured in concrete, traditionally in other words.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Buyer
Syrah/Shiraz
A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.
It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.
South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.
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Description
The fruit of 40-year-old vines is matured in old foudres and shared between Grenache (70 percent), Syrah (15 percent), Mourvèdre (10 percent) and Cinsault (five percent). The late harvest, not completed until October 17th, lends complexity to the palate; the nose is marked by mature Syrah with violets and ripe blackberry to the fore.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer
Moulin de la Gardette is a bijou 10-hectare vineyard, situated on the slopes of Les Dentelles de Montmirail. They are a little unusual in that their office and shop are located right in the centre of the Medieval village, therefore a good place to visit just before or after a trip to the neighbouring Oustalet restaurant. Jean Baptiste Meunier is a thoughtful vigneron, and all of his vineyards are accreditied AB (Agriculture Biologique) by Ecocert. Moving to the 2013s, these were both tasted as barrel samples. The deep ruby colored 2013 Gigondas Tradition shows the more mid-weight, forward profile that’s so common in 2013. Pepper, spice-box, cedar, raspberry and potpourri emerge from this medium-bodied, nicely texture effort, and it should be ready to go on release and evolve relatively quickly.
Jeb Dunnuck - Wine Advocate Issue#216 (Part 2) Jan 2015
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