September 10, 2018 - Excellent, classic. 14.5% alc.
Colour: jet black
Bouquet: ripe black berries and olives, spice aNd black pepper, dark chocolate, leather, perfumed Grenache character up front
Palate: as bouquet, licorice, cascading layers of dark fruits, leather, black fruits, pepper, cigar box, minerals, calciferous, full bodied, big soft tannins, long very dry finish
September 2018
May 19, 2014 - I did not have the problems with this bottle that Richard apparently had. I popped and poured and there were unpleasant tannins at the start after a very fruity Grenache open. Those bitter tannins dissipated and while the syrah only seemed to help for about 45 mins in the middle of the bottle, the fruit bomb on the open did settle down to something more structured. Assuming used French oak, I wondered if an over the hill cask (or two) was used in this blend and that helped to deliver the dusty nose and unpleasant tannins in the bottle's early open minutes.
September 28, 2013 - Bem parecido com o anterior (08/2012). Um bom Gigondas, mas ainda novo, pouco evoluído por sua cor e nariz. Boca bastante encorpada, com sabor que remete a licor de frutas vermelhas escuras, tendo um álcool que ainda continua um tanto aparente, que desta vez, me incomodou ligeiramente mais que antes.
June 11, 2013 - Drink without decanting. This is at the end of its life, but the good bottles are still drinking well out of the bottle.
The nose still shows a divine dustiness, with some of the fruits also showing through. if it drank as it smells It'd get a 94.
Out of the bottle the palate is tightly acidic, which good red fruits. Big bodied wine, and kept up with the tagine I'd made.
Not a great wine in depth and complexity, but still shows that it has good fruit and decent character. Second day the tannins come out as sharp black and bitter, which isn't so good, and the fruits are just rowdily hanging around, rather than playing together in a well-mannered group. nonetheless, it's obviously a quality wine which just isn't quite working now. I'm not sure that these are made to last, so I'd drink up instead.
Drink up, and within the hour after opening.
May 31, 2013 - Highly disappointing. I wonder if it's past its best. Better out of the bottle with no decanting. Keeps its glorious dusty nose, and has some good zing, but it fades after a couple of hours and ends up just big and floppy big red fruits.
Second day the tannins come out, but no finesse. Definitely has uality, but it doesn't hang together now.
November 18, 2012 - Goes great with white castle jalapenos sliders.
August 31, 2012 - Cor rubi profundo com borda tendendo sutilmente ao granada. Ao nariz, uma boa e aparentemente crescente complexidade. Nuances de geléia de framboesas, amoras, morangos, um elegante toque de boa madeira, que com a presente evolução já está começando a abrir para notas especiadas (mais notadamente cravo), e uma discreta e boa mineralidade bem envolta ao conjunto. Na boca é encorpado e saboroso, com adequada acidez e bom equilibrio geral, porém, o potente teor alcoólico (14,5%) se fez notar um pouco, não chegou a comprometer mas ficou próximo ao limiar... Quanto ao estágio evolutivo, hoje bebe-se bem após aeração, embora acho que esteja apenas querendo entrar em boa janela. Ainda deve evoluir bem e é possível que se mantenha íntegro por toda essa década se for bem guardado.
October 14, 2011 - Zingy attack, good acid. Not a lot of fruit on the initial palate, athough the nose hinted at its rich red fruitness. There are maybe hints of red cherry, but raspberry, pepper and rich red fruits come into the mid-palate mixed with smooth dry, increasingly present tannins, then moving into a superlong and mouthwatering minerally finish. Not as ridiculously wonderfully mineral as the Calcareous Syrah, though still rather good, and it's a more complex wine, with less alcohol, and more tannin, and more kinds of fruit, if a bit less strength in the fruit. This is a dry wine, but along with the finish comes some drying but smooth medium-strong tannins taking over, and giving an impression of sweetness, and lingering in the mouth for minutes. I'm not a huge tannin person, but I like how it works with this wine, and it's a very pleasant experience. Definitely will accompany smoked or cured meats well.
I could do with more fruit, but this might be because I've been drinking Californian wine recenty. This is a good European take on riper wine, from what I can tell. I've never had Gigondas before, so it's hard to know what to expect or compare it to.
I think this should pair well with pork, and other rich French foods, as expected from a S Rhone wine.
A day after opening it's darker, pepper and spice still there, and good mineral. Tannins have softened too. I'm not much a fan of the riper wines, but this is one of the exceptions, particularly because of its good acidity, and mineral zip. It's a very good, ripe-style S Rhone wine, with more complexity than Shiraz-based Australian blends, for example. I think those who didn't like it didn't aerate it, and this should age decently for a few years
February 13, 2011 - Full and sweet, but with no excitement, even after a few days open.
January 2, 2011 - Boring. That sums it up. Nothing special here. Close to "la Ciboise", with twice the cost. This vintage just doesn't find the right style and balance.