Wine Article

2010 Domaine du Gour de Chaulé Gigondas Cuvée Tradition

Last edited on 1/27/2014 by ob2s
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Winex:
You can never know everything with wine, and for as long as we have been working with the Rhône, you would think that we would have run across all of the ‘good stuff’ by now. But we received a rather emphatic reminder that there is always more great juice to be found. Domaine du Gour de Chaule Gigondas is an entirely new face for us. You can guess that the ‘marketing department’ didn’t come up with the name.
Back in 1900 when Eugene Bonfils founded this estate in the village of Gigondas, the world was a considerably different place. As most of the properties then did, Gour de Chaulé spent most of its existence selling to negociants. Eugene’s daughter, Madame Rolande Beaumet, started to bottle a small percentage of wine for private clients in 1970. Her grand-daughter Stephanie is now at the helm of this 15 hectare estate, and the decidedly traditional house style does not appear to be changing any time soon.

We mentally presumed that this wine was going to be something in an elegant style. As the wine was poured, the inky color indicated otherwise. We rarely see Grenache this dark and not only is it visually intimidating, it is big and chewy on the mouth as well. Stephanie doesn’t look very big in her pictures, but she sure makes a brawny wine. Yet for all its size and chewy, ripe tannins, there is great harmony and purity. These folks are minimal intervention types, choosing to let the terroir speak for itself. So you are getting it ‘old school’ with a definite sense of its terroir.
However, Stephanie also displays a deft touch and the balance between all of the elements here is surprising. Not only were we impressed, we found some pretty compelling notes from the typically conservative Josh Raynolds of International Wine Cellar who upgraded his previous score on this wine to a 93-94 with the following comments: “Vivid purple. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes red and dark berry preserves, pit fruits, potpourri and smoky garrigue. Stains the palate with intense black raspberry and cherry flavors that pick up an exotic floral pastille nuance with air. Rich but lithe, with excellent finishing clarity and gentle tannic grip.”
For us this wine wins on every level. It is impressive for its purity and precision, and it’s an outstanding value to boot. Probably as important as anything, it is distinctively styled and can hold its own with wines costing a lot more. They probably don’t need to use the term ‘cuvee tradition’ since they don’t make any other Gigondas and it is made in the traditional manner. But Stephanie can call it whatever she wants as long as she is making wine this good at this kind of price (though something easier to say would be nice...Gur de shoul). One of the more exciting discoveries we have had in the Rhône in a long time. No matter where you are in your 2010 southern Rhône agenda, you are not done if you don’t have some of this. Stock Report October 2013

International Vin Cellor: "Vivid purple. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes red and dark berry preserves, pit fruits, potpourri and smoky garrigue. Stains the palate with intense black raspberry and cherry flavors that pick up an exotic floral pastille nuance with air. Rich but lithe, with excellent finishing clarity and gentle tannic grip."
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