Our last of these, and probably the best if a little faded. When I think of classic Gigondas I think of Cayron with a lot of age on it; autumn leaves, forest floor, subtle baking spice, kirsch, all that kind of stuff. Great pairing with cassoulet, if not quite the equal of the 1998 Vieux-Telegraphe
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This is great --but somehow I think I like the 2015 and 2016 versions more? This is dark with no bricking. Cork was about 1/10th saturated and in great shape. A very mineral nose with a bit of Twizzlers licorice and fruit. Just a hair of tertiary garrigue funk.
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Deep garnet / ruby with no orange maturity hue. Big Grenache fruit with a touch of sandalwood and anise on the nose. Took a few minutes to settle down - the palate is very lively. Saturating and rustic flavors are lovely on a cool fall day. In your face, the fruit and pepper finish are bold. A big mouthful of wine - classic garrigue flavors. This is old school. (90)
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Plenty of young, deep, dark fruit here, but this wine is not entirely clean, even after 2.5 hours in the decanter. In the 25th anniversary edition of his Adventures on the Wine Route, Kermit Lynch adds an epilog that discusses various producers in the original edition and says that he had to drop Farraud because the son's wines were often flawed. Alas, this wine justifies Kermit, even though it is still drinkable.
Cloudy, medium red-garnet color. Meaty, roasted, herbal nose; ideal in my experience for this house. Showed to be in the sweet spot for the grenache this vintage, as the fruit is plump with pomegranate and cranberry, in many mixed herbs,held in a typically fizzy acidity. A terrific match to our Father's day patio dinner: the new paella pan proved a winner on the wood stick bbq, delivering perfect rabbit and capon. This wine stands up to the heirloom tomatoes with aplomb. Cayron is one of the most consistent wines vintage-to-vintage, and a fine long ager. Wish we had more of this 1999. Bottle #4 of four.
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Cellared since original release. Simple cherry fruit in a medium-full body, tannins fully resolved. This is not why one cellars wine -- Côtes-du-Rhône are made to taste this good or better on release.
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Bit of a hit or miss with this, difficult domaine, but this wine sings; color still dark, nose is rich, sweet, spiced, and the taste broad in the very nice and retrained Rhône-sort of way. Loving this. Mature, but will keep. tasted in a company of six others Gig. 1999, beat most of them. (AD's birthday,Kkandestederne).
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Dark red. Nice developed Rhone nose, raspberry, meat, blood, mineral flavours. A very resolved finish riding on the acid. Very good wine at the peak of it's evolution.
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This is a beast of a wine! Some horsey brett on the nose but, surprisingly, not showing on the palate. There's also some herbs & garrigue on the nose. Although the wine is in it's stage of maturity, there is still some freshness on the palate. Big, deep, rustic wine, full of sappy red fruit, herbs & garrigue. This is as good as any traditional CdP. The last bottle of my lot, this was perhaps the best. Other bottles had some spritz, but not this one. This can probably age for some time more, and possibly get better! I would buy more if I could find it.
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Asparagus, garrigue and black pepper dominate the nose; not much fruit. Some dark cherry appears on the palate, but anise and herbs remain more dominant. Silky mouthfeel. Chalky tannins with some peppery spice on the finish. Lots of flavor, but also rather hot, creating a liqueur-like element. Killer finish that evolves over 45-60 seconds. Decanted - sweet spot was from 30-60 minutes, after which it started to fade a bit, but still it seems like it has a few more years in it. Overall this was extremely enjoyable, if a little unbalanced.
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Medium red-garnet color, clouded. Spicy and leathery nose, with predominant black pepper, cranberry, mixed garrigue. Medium-low tannin, medium acidity; presents an unusual near-fizzy, effervescent liveliness in the mouth. Rich leathery, gamy meat, and peppercorn are satisfying on the palate. An old-fashioned country wine. Bottle #3 of four.
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Opened while preparing dinner: nice bit of barnyard/damp forest nose w/dark fruit in the background. Poured 1/2 glass through Vinturi, above notes more pronounced, with some leather/tobacco as well. Very nice dark fruit on palate, wonderful mouth feel. Went well with braised short ribs. Two hours later, took nearly full bottle to wine tasting w/friends. Nose was much fruitier, mouth feel was silky. Several tasters thought it was a Burgundy, as we were also drinking another Kermit Lynch import, a Chambolle Musigny about 10 yrs old. This wine outshined the Musigny, which was about 3 times the price originally. Alas, I appear to have consumed the last bottle, but at least others got to enjoy the experience. Perhaps the best Gigondas I have had.
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Cooked with first bottle and when we got to the rest of it at dinner time, it was just singing and full of all the old time Rhone flavors that I think are more and more endangered by today's modern, super cuvees. Full of garrigue but also rich, round fruit....lovely....2nd bottle more spritzy and more hard edges.....there are no good wines...jsut good bottles....
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Opened 2 hours ahead of time. Clean menthol and red fruit. Robust flavors of blackberry and tobacco, long tobacco fruit finish, great structure and balance. Wonderful wine, and a big hit all around. Definitely in the sweet spot.
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Dark purple. High aromatics of red and black fruit with some barnyard. Tart black fruits on the palate with everything working. Long mature finish. Great stuff.
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Awesome bottle of wine. Still has a good five years on it. Took two days to fully open. First day the fruit hit you...lucious. Second day everything mellowed out and it took on a velvet sheen, almost burgundian.
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Still a quite rich & youthful purple colour. On the nose ... well this might divide people! Antiseptic, perhaps more TCP than sticking plaster, but one assumes Brettanomyces. No problem for me, but for others it would be clearly too much. There is decent dark-fruited support FWIW.
Nice balance on the palate, with a tight frame and arguably even some elegance. Acidity supports well, the fruit is vibrant and far from baked or flabby. The antiseptic / emerging barnyard elements add to the picture (to my tastes). What tannins remain are soft and unobtrusive, lending as much to a sense of control/balance as having a say themselves.
Whilst this may well hold for a good few years, I really like where it is now and would suggest drinking up soon. It's certainly 'in a good place' now.
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The house brett flaw at Cayron is such a bummer; I really like this stuff. But the 99 is able to power through, a mix of peanut, spritz, and aged merde, it's still highly drinkable. They need to clean it up, though - stuff from before about 97 is just so good.
I remember visiting them in 03 and they greeted us with a smirk and limited tolerance; a real shame for the package they potentially have put together.
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Deep ruby color. Wild, brambly red fruit nose. Lots of dirt and earth mixed in, but this seems much more harmonious on the nose than past bottles. Good punch, the palate still has that medicinal character and rusticity that I have never enjoyed. A lot of tannin remains though the mid palate has weakened. Maybe a wine for the ages, maybe for the dump bucket….a really tough wine…. If I can find more in the cellar, don’t touch until 2019 to see what happens….(84+?)
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This was drinking well tonight. Tremenous finish full of spice and licorice. Nose redolent of garni bouquet, great structure, tannins well integrated. Touch of barnyard that blew off. It went down quickly!
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Dark yet fairly bright red. A tight nose, which opens up with vigorous swirling to show spice, charred pork ribs, cilantro, nori, a smidgen of barnyard that is perfectly in tune with the wine's other components, and some faint warmth to remind you it's from the South. Develops further in the mouth to show some tobacco notes, while simultaneously impressing the palate with richness and good acids. A great big finish leaves me hopeful that my remaining bottles will please even more in a few years' time.
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Deep garnet with a touch of purple – somewhat dull at rim. Black fruits, garrique, and oak on the nose. Violets and the weirdest hint of artichoke – actually more than a hint. Bubbly and somewhat unstable feel on the tongue. I have had this sensation with Gigondas (particularly this Domaine) before and I must admit to hating it. Medium bodied. My wife likes this bottle. Is this VA?? I don’t know, but I don’t find it pleasant at all. (75) I went back to this after 3 hours and it settled down a bit. The spritziness left and things rounded out a bit. This made it much more enjoyable, but still not great. This needs time. I am upping the score - no idea what the potential is with 10 more years -- save other bottles until 2015. (85+?)
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(Audouzed for 6 hours) – Upon pouring this smelled corked. The majority quickly blew off. Very deep garnet, but quickly fades to pink at rim – a bit unusual is how quickly it grades. Purple plum fruit mixed with soy, beef blood and a slight medicinal characteristic (a touch musty). The wine bursts on the palate – wow. Layers of Grenache fruit and vineyard earth supported by ample tannin. This is so youthfully exuberant that it almost seems spritzy (which it is not). Surprisingly, there is a ton of tannin on the finish. This might not be a pure bottle, as there remains a hint of cork taint that reappears after 20 minutes it gets worse and worse. It will be interesting to try another bottle. (?)
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$20 retail. No formal note. This bottle showed an extremely earthy, almost cheese-like nose. I enjoyed the palate more than the aroma. Not corked - just funky. Based upon a very different previous bottle (see TN from a year ago), I'm wondering if this was representative or a slightly off bottle...
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Eggplant/violet color. Smokey, animal, green tea, creme de menthe aromas. Firm, drying tannins outweigh the fruit which tales off on finish. Nice wine but a bit lusher fruit would help.
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$20 retail, after discount. Fruit leaning more towards the red side of the spectrum. Elements of spice and earth - starting to show some subtle secondary nuances. Nice, traditionally made wine, and a solid value at $20. Should become even more interesting over the next few years...
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Wine Education Service - Southern Rhône: Dark blackcurrant colour. An animal and vegetal nose with blackcurrants and flowers. Fruity, balanced, sophisticated, needs further aging.
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5/31/2021 - Everything Ahead wrote: 92 Points
Our last of these, and probably the best if a little faded. When I think of classic Gigondas I think of Cayron with a lot of age on it; autumn leaves, forest floor, subtle baking spice, kirsch, all that kind of stuff. Great pairing with cassoulet, if not quite the equal of the 1998 Vieux-Telegraphe
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12/5/2019 - mercurius wrote: 91 Points
This is great --but somehow I think I like the 2015 and 2016 versions more? This is dark with no bricking. Cork was about 1/10th saturated and in great shape. A very mineral nose with a bit of Twizzlers licorice and fruit. Just a hair of tertiary garrigue funk.
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1/8/2019 - John F wrote: 92 Points
This wine is still outstanding.... last of my 4 bottles and sad to see them go. Not sure how long they will last but this was great now
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7/7/2018 - David Hamren Likes this wine:
Waited a bit too long on this one.. Slightly cloudy and unfocused. Tasty nonetheless.
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10/20/2014 - dbkitc wrote: 90 Points
Deep garnet / ruby with no orange maturity hue. Big Grenache fruit with a touch of sandalwood and anise on the nose. Took a few minutes to settle down - the palate is very lively. Saturating and rustic flavors are lovely on a cool fall day. In your face, the fruit and pepper finish are bold. A big mouthful of wine - classic garrigue flavors. This is old school. (90)
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10/10/2013 - cfk49 wrote: 86 Points
Plenty of young, deep, dark fruit here, but this wine is not entirely clean, even after 2.5 hours in the decanter. In the 25th anniversary edition of his Adventures on the Wine Route, Kermit Lynch adds an epilog that discusses various producers in the original edition and says that he had to drop Farraud because the son's wines were often flawed. Alas, this wine justifies Kermit, even though it is still drinkable.
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6/17/2013 - Hodby wrote: 91 Points
Cloudy, medium red-garnet color. Meaty, roasted, herbal nose; ideal in my experience for this house. Showed to be in the sweet spot for the grenache this vintage, as the fruit is plump with pomegranate and cranberry, in many mixed herbs,held in a typically fizzy acidity. A terrific match to our Father's day patio dinner: the new paella pan proved a winner on the wood stick bbq, delivering perfect rabbit and capon. This wine stands up to the heirloom tomatoes with aplomb. Cayron is one of the most consistent wines vintage-to-vintage, and a fine long ager. Wish we had more of this 1999. Bottle #4 of four.
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3/23/2013 - PJMartin Likes this wine: 95 Points
Best Rhone I have ever had! Friends for grilled steak dinner agreed and they've specialized in Rhone Reds! Highly recommended.
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2/28/2013 - cfk49 wrote: 86 Points
Cellared since original release. Simple cherry fruit in a medium-full body, tannins fully resolved. This is not why one cellars wine -- Côtes-du-Rhône are made to taste this good or better on release.
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7/31/2012 - beatles wrote: 91 Points
Bit of a hit or miss with this, difficult domaine, but this wine sings; color still dark, nose is rich, sweet, spiced, and the taste broad in the very nice and retrained Rhône-sort of way. Loving this. Mature, but will keep. tasted in a company of six others Gig. 1999, beat most of them. (AD's birthday,Kkandestederne).
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7/23/2012 - David J Cooper wrote: 92 Points
Dark red. Nice developed Rhone nose, raspberry, meat, blood, mineral flavours. A very resolved finish riding on the acid. Very good wine at the peak of it's evolution.
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4/15/2012 - davergny wrote: 92 Points
This is a beast of a wine! Some horsey brett on the nose but, surprisingly, not showing on the palate. There's also some herbs & garrigue on the nose. Although the wine is in it's stage of maturity, there is still some freshness on the palate. Big, deep, rustic wine, full of sappy red fruit, herbs & garrigue. This is as good as any traditional CdP. The last bottle of my lot, this was perhaps the best. Other bottles had some spritz, but not this one. This can probably age for some time more, and possibly get better! I would buy more if I could find it.
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12/3/2011 - lifeattable Likes this wine: 92 Points
Asparagus, garrigue and black pepper dominate the nose; not much fruit. Some dark cherry appears on the palate, but anise and herbs remain more dominant. Silky mouthfeel. Chalky tannins with some peppery spice on the finish. Lots of flavor, but also rather hot, creating a liqueur-like element. Killer finish that evolves over 45-60 seconds. Decanted - sweet spot was from 30-60 minutes, after which it started to fade a bit, but still it seems like it has a few more years in it. Overall this was extremely enjoyable, if a little unbalanced.
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7/12/2011 - Hodby wrote: 91 Points
Medium red-garnet color, clouded. Spicy and leathery nose, with predominant black pepper, cranberry, mixed garrigue. Medium-low tannin, medium acidity; presents an unusual near-fizzy, effervescent liveliness in the mouth. Rich leathery, gamy meat, and peppercorn are satisfying on the palate. An old-fashioned country wine. Bottle #3 of four.
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4/15/2011 - gcarl wrote: 93 Points
Opened while preparing dinner: nice bit of barnyard/damp forest nose w/dark fruit in the background. Poured 1/2 glass through Vinturi, above notes more pronounced, with some leather/tobacco as well. Very nice dark fruit on palate, wonderful mouth feel. Went well with braised short ribs. Two hours later, took nearly full bottle to wine tasting w/friends. Nose was much fruitier, mouth feel was silky. Several tasters thought it was a Burgundy, as we were also drinking another Kermit Lynch import, a Chambolle Musigny about 10 yrs old. This wine outshined the Musigny, which was about 3 times the price originally. Alas, I appear to have consumed the last bottle, but at least others got to enjoy the experience. Perhaps the best Gigondas I have had.
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2/21/2011 - meinkep wrote:
Positively delightful! Decanted and ignored for about an hour. Wonderful mouth feel, smooth finish, full bodied. Wish I had more.
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2/19/2011 - davergny wrote:
Slightly spritzy bottle, but drinkable.
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10/20/2010 - Mr T wrote:
Cooked with first bottle and when we got to the rest of it at dinner time, it was just singing and full of all the old time Rhone flavors that I think are more and more endangered by today's modern, super cuvees. Full of garrigue but also rich, round fruit....lovely....2nd bottle more spritzy and more hard edges.....there are no good wines...jsut good bottles....
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10/18/2010 - IAMVLAD wrote: 89 Points
may be a bit young. restrained nose. plenty of black fruit on the palate but the suggestion is that it will be better in another two years.
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5/31/2010 - wineshlub wrote: 94 Points
Opened 2 hours ahead of time. Clean menthol and red fruit. Robust flavors of blackberry and tobacco, long tobacco fruit finish, great structure and balance. Wonderful wine, and a big hit all around. Definitely in the sweet spot.
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4/16/2010 - dwoody wrote: 93 Points
Dark purple. High aromatics of red and black fruit with some barnyard. Tart black fruits on the palate with everything working. Long mature finish. Great stuff.
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2/23/2010 - davergny wrote: 91 Points
A whiff of barnyard, nice brambly fruit, spices, long, velvet texture. Maturity kicking in. Lovely Gigondas.
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12/16/2009 - skoppel wrote: 94 Points
Awesome bottle of wine. Still has a good five years on it. Took two days to fully open. First day the fruit hit you...lucious. Second day everything mellowed out and it took on a velvet sheen, almost burgundian.
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10/18/2009 - Ian S wrote:
Still a quite rich & youthful purple colour.
On the nose ... well this might divide people! Antiseptic, perhaps more TCP than sticking plaster, but one assumes Brettanomyces. No problem for me, but for others it would be clearly too much. There is decent dark-fruited support FWIW.
Nice balance on the palate, with a tight frame and arguably even some elegance. Acidity supports well, the fruit is vibrant and far from baked or flabby. The antiseptic / emerging barnyard elements add to the picture (to my tastes). What tannins remain are soft and unobtrusive, lending as much to a sense of control/balance as having a say themselves.
Whilst this may well hold for a good few years, I really like where it is now and would suggest drinking up soon. It's certainly 'in a good place' now.
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9/23/2009 - Brad L wrote:
The house brett flaw at Cayron is such a bummer; I really like this stuff. But the 99 is able to power through, a mix of peanut, spritz, and aged merde, it's still highly drinkable. They need to clean it up, though - stuff from before about 97 is just so good.
I remember visiting them in 03 and they greeted us with a smirk and limited tolerance; a real shame for the package they potentially have put together.
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6/25/2009 - dbkitc wrote: 84 Points
Deep ruby color. Wild, brambly red fruit nose. Lots of dirt and earth mixed in, but this seems much more harmonious on the nose than past bottles. Good punch, the palate still has that medicinal character and rusticity that I have never enjoyed. A lot of tannin remains though the mid palate has weakened. Maybe a wine for the ages, maybe for the dump bucket….a really tough wine…. If I can find more in the cellar, don’t touch until 2019 to see what happens….(84+?)
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1/18/2009 - madeiradog wrote: 93 Points
This was drinking well tonight. Tremenous finish full of spice and licorice. Nose redolent of garni bouquet, great structure, tannins well integrated. Touch of barnyard that blew off. It went down quickly!
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11/17/2007 - tcfishler wrote: 91 Points
Dark yet fairly bright red. A tight nose, which opens up with vigorous swirling to show spice, charred pork ribs, cilantro, nori, a smidgen of barnyard that is perfectly in tune with the wine's other components, and some faint warmth to remind you it's from the South. Develops further in the mouth to show some tobacco notes, while simultaneously impressing the palate with richness and good acids. A great big finish leaves me hopeful that my remaining bottles will please even more in a few years' time.
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3/22/2007 - dbkitc wrote: 85 Points
Deep garnet with a touch of purple – somewhat dull at rim. Black fruits, garrique, and oak on the nose. Violets and the weirdest hint of artichoke – actually more than a hint. Bubbly and somewhat unstable feel on the tongue. I have had this sensation with Gigondas (particularly this Domaine) before and I must admit to hating it. Medium bodied. My wife likes this bottle. Is this VA?? I don’t know, but I don’t find it pleasant at all. (75) I went back to this after 3 hours and it settled down a bit. The spritziness left and things rounded out a bit. This made it much more enjoyable, but still not great. This needs time. I am upping the score - no idea what the potential is with 10 more years -- save other bottles until 2015. (85+?)
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5/13/2006 - dbkitc wrote:
(Audouzed for 6 hours) – Upon pouring this smelled corked. The majority quickly blew off. Very deep garnet, but quickly fades to pink at rim – a bit unusual is how quickly it grades. Purple plum fruit mixed with soy, beef blood and a slight medicinal characteristic (a touch musty). The wine bursts on the palate – wow. Layers of Grenache fruit and vineyard earth supported by ample tannin. This is so youthfully exuberant that it almost seems spritzy (which it is not). Surprisingly, there is a ton of tannin on the finish. This might not be a pure bottle, as there remains a hint of cork taint that reappears after 20 minutes it gets worse and worse. It will be interesting to try another bottle. (?)
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10/28/2005 - Ben Andersen wrote:
$20 retail. No formal note. This bottle showed an extremely earthy, almost cheese-like nose. I enjoyed the palate more than the aroma. Not corked - just funky. Based upon a very different previous bottle (see TN from a year ago), I'm wondering if this was representative or a slightly off bottle...
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11/13/2004 - antiwood wrote: 87 Points
Eggplant/violet color. Smokey, animal, green tea, creme de menthe aromas. Firm, drying tannins outweigh the fruit which tales off on finish. Nice wine but a bit lusher fruit would help.
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11/6/2004 - Ben Andersen wrote:
$20 retail, after discount. Fruit leaning more towards the red side of the spectrum. Elements of spice and earth - starting to show some subtle secondary nuances. Nice, traditionally made wine, and a solid value at $20. Should become even more interesting over the next few years...
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4/19/2003 - Eric wrote: 93 Points
Seattle Tasting Group does Southern Rhône (Seattle, WA, USA): Fennel and kirsch on the nose. Gorgeous entry, brooding on the palate, POWERHOUSE finish! This is a huge wine that hits you over the head.
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7/22/2002 - tendring wrote:
Wine Education Service - Southern Rhône: Dark blackcurrant colour.
An animal and vegetal nose with blackcurrants and flowers.
Fruity, balanced, sophisticated, needs further aging.
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6/17/1901 - cigar52 wrote: 88 Points
better today than yesterday...chilled with camabert (sp?) cheese...
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