September 22, 2023 - Two glasses by Coravin - first seemed good, quite intense dark fruit, some herbal notes, even mint I thought. Second one a few says later got the strange spritzy fizzy notes outlined below. Odd.
Will see what the rest of bottle is like soon.
May 26, 2023 - Good, not great. Clearly too young for our tastes.
May 6, 2023 - No basil notes here (anymore). Dark cherry fruit, surprisingly cool, spicy. The Grenache is speaking. Slightly tight, needs more time in the cellar. More classical Gigondas compared to the 2016 for example. Should be interesting to follow.
April 2, 2023 - Superb. Bought this for £13 (ep) in 2013. Will always buy good Gigondas in favourable vintages.
September 24, 2022 - Not sure what to make of this wine. Double decanted for 8 hours. Nose is a combination of cassis, intense straw- and raspberry, some allspice and some ‘old books’. On the palate a strange almost spritzy feeling on the tongue. Will see how day 2 is, but based on todays showing not something for the long run and not great for the short run either
Edit: no change on day 2
September 1, 2022 - Sorry to see it go. Good body, depth and fruit. Excellent with the grilled flank steak
April 3, 2022 - Tasted blind; 12 Gigondas all from 2017; 12 people. This finished in the bottom half. I usually enjoy its uniqueness - pepper and basil leaf - but this vintage came off a little bitter to me and maybe still a bit young to drink. Certainly crisp. Needed some time in the glass for the effervescence to dissipate. No surprise that I enjoyed the 2016 vintage of this more; and although I’ll continue to look forward to opening more of these over time I may reconsider loading up on each vintage now.
January 8, 2022 - (Imported by Vin de Garde. Portland OR)
Two bottles tasted...
Color: Medium dark ruby. Slightly brown brick at rim (too soon for that).
Both wines were defective. Marred with high-toned, geranium-taint, and fermentation stink on the nose. Prickly on the tongue at first (indicates microbial instability, secondary fermentation in bottle, probably an ML problem). Weirdly thin, tart, and sour on the finish. Barely drinkable.
This wine is clearly defective. Were there two separate cuvées of this wine???
***Post here if you have a similar problem with the 2017 Cayron.
Were these two bottles representative?? It's a real shame because I remember like it was yesterday how GREAT the 1989 and 1990 vintage of this wine were.
JGH sommelier CMS-III, SF/Bay Area CA.
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This wine was NOT corked. In fact, it was closed with an anti-TCA Diam 10 composite cork. No brett. No mercaptans (onion, skunk). But yes some VA. This is probably an issue with the malolactic fermentation.
January 7, 2022 - Vibrant fruit, dry and smooth. Excellent with seared ribeye, mushrooms and carmelized onions! Glad I have a few left.
December 5, 2021 - A quintessential French wine, and one that I enjoy sharing with friends. Notes of garrigue, violets, blackberry, earth/mushroom, and Asian spice. Soft and supple on the palate; great texture.