Gigondas

The Terre des Aînés is from the Saurel’s oldest most gnarled vines (80 years old) and is made from 80 percent Grenache and 20 percent Mourvèdre. To the powerful spice and black fruit notes must be added the appeal of very pure and focused tannins and a wonderfully refreshing finish. 
Drink 2017-2020.
Simon Field MW – Wine Buyer

The blend this year is approximately 73% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre and 7% Syrah, the last of these three making an unusual appearance in recognition of Yves’ admiration of this variety in 2012, a year when Mourvèdre had to work hard. Be that as it may, it has all its customary savoury spicy richness, with ripe black fruit at its core and a fine, gently minty freshness on the finish.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer

The ebullient Yves Gras can always be relied upon for a sound-bite or two; 2012 is for him an excellent vintage because for him a long season, so far south, engenders inevitable complexity and balance. The wines are getting even better during élevage, he adds, risking a non-sequitur… but I am disinclined to argue with such a robust character and the wines share his forthright salty charm.

Rhône 2010 Berrys' Best Buys - Southern Belles
Domaine Montirius is an impeccable biodynamic estate that produces wines of brilliant richness and depth with the characteristic notes of Provençal herb and personality. This is really great quality at a really great price.
(Stuart Rae, BBR Fine Wine)

More elegant than previously, this cuvée, which is made up of 80% old-vine Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre, still boasts astonishing concentration and very powerful tannins, so fear not those who love robust Gigondas with their game dishes. I think the tannin management is better than ever this year and beyond all the power and glory there is a purity and focus which is extremely impressive!
(Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012)

Christine and Eric Saurel own 60 hectares mostly on the Plateau des Garrigues which overlooks the villages of Vacqueyras and Sarrains, all of which they have farmed on biodynamic principles for an incredible 16 years. Blue and monmorate ‘petrus’ clay soils contribute to the astonishing flavours coaxed from these old vines. Christine describes her goals in terms of ‘luminosité’, an intangible and almost ethereal term yet one which seems strangely appropriate and which can only be properly explained by tasting the wines themselves, which are a far cry from traditional styles from these villages.

With an astonishingly delicate nose, the Cuvée Confidential seems almost feminine, an adjective seldom encountered when describing this appellation. Sourced from 40-year-old Mourvèdre and 80-year-old Grenache vines, the wine possesses a weight of dense black fruit with a flowery garland and hints of incense. This has a most impressive length and a very harmonious finish.

This is a wonderful example of what good-value Gigondas can offer. The intensity of aromatics with liquorice, kirsch, rosemary and thyme is inviting and persists on the finish. While the fruit concentration is powerful, there is a touch of sweetness and spice on the mid-palate, the tannins powdery and firm, providing balance and focus. Drink now to 2024.
Fiona Hayes, Rhône Buyer

As the names suggest, Les Racines is sourced from
lower vineyards than Les Terrasses (Daniel’s other
Gigondas) but from older vines, over 70 years of age in
the case of the Grenache which makes up 90 percent
of this cuvée, the balance made up of Mourvèdre. A
surprisingly feminine floral aromatic is followed by
a fine and elegant palate with notes of myrtle and
liquorice, mocha, and forest floor all evidenced. The
synergy between house style and vintage personality
is conspicuously successful in 2016. Drink 2020-2024.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Until 1st April this product is discounted by 20 percent. Price shown includes saving.*
This beautiful 17th-century estate dominates the village of Gigondas, just as this outstanding wine will come to dominate the ever-growing reputation of its wines. The investment made by the Perrins here demonstrates their faith in these cooler sites; in this instance the north-west orientation defines the micro climate and ensures a late harvest. Fifteen months later, the latent complexity has been captured and bottled and the results are superb: Grenache dominates with over 90 percent of the blend, and very successful it is too. Blue and black fruits vie for attention; the attention, secured, is held by the midpalate focus, purity and impressive length. Griotte and mocha on the finish complete a most satisfactory gustatory experience.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer

Deferential perhaps to what the Chapoutiers have achieved in the north with their single plots in Hermitage, the Perrins have segregated their top domaines into a ‘parcellaire’ category. Fully owned and farmed on the most rigorous organic principles, these exciting wines reflect the family’s faith in the villages of Vinsobres and Gigondas, the hillside locations of which chime with changing meteorological and climatic patterns.


*Discount is already applied to the single-bottle price and no further discount will be applied at checkout.

Les Pallières is one of the most beautiful properties in the Rhône Valley, nestled between the villages of Sablet and Gigondas in a natural, woody amphitheatre. The older vines nearer the property go into Les Racines, those higher up make up Les Terrasses du Diable. This year Les Racines is ostensibly more austere and reserved, but will ultimately prove more rewarding as its dark spicy personality starts to reveal itself. 
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer

In his quarterly newsletter, ’Sémaphore’ Daniel Brunier does not mince his words when he describes the 2012 vintage as ‘simply phenomenal’, inculpating ‘freshness of fruit, balance, and serious tannic structure’ for this state of affairs. And so it proves that in all three wines that there is both power and lightness of touch.  The ballet dancer Carlos Acosta comes to mind, or even Nureyev himself.

As the name implies, this cuvée is from the higher vineyards, its freshness and lift inspiring beyond the power and concentration of the mid-palate. Hitherto understandably reserved, the wine has real purity and great potential.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012

The Duke of Gigondas,Yves Gras, is a charismatic and eloquent champion for these two great villages, easing them out of the shadow of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and into the light of a recognition which is far removed from an outdated reputation for rustic tannins and indulgent alcohol levels. The recognition garnered by the estate is evidenced by a most impressive new tasting room, complete with furniture which would not be out-of-place in a Parisian salon. Fame has its cost however; at the end of our visit a huge lorry, collecting wine to go to Holland, crushed a hundred year-old olive tree, much to the chagrin of M Gras and the eldery M Gras père, who rushed out to castigate the driver with some very colourful patois.