Many years before arriving in Gigondas, my father was able to discover wine in general and the wines of our region in particular by tasting Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In fact, his parents’ friendship with the Avrils and family ties with the Quiots quite naturally led to fine bottles of Châteauneuf being placed on the Sunday dinner table. It is an ironic story – 25 years later, my father would become an administrator of the Gigondas producers’ organisation, a member of François Ay’s team who would secure growth status for Gigondas. The move would cause a serious clash with… Baron le Roy, a landowner in Châteauneuf, inventor of the appellation system and chairman of INAO who did his utmost to prevent Gigondas from accessing the ultimate recognition. Châteauneuf and Gigondas are like the yin and the yang, alpha and omega – they are different in virtually every way. In his own objective opinion, tinged with subjectivity, my father preferred Gigondas.
Gingerbread, garrigue herbs, Christmas cake, truffle and olive paste.
Bold and succulent. Ripe, black-fruit aromas with a swathe of spicy-oak and earthy nuances, too. There’s a wealth of plush, brambly, dark-plum and berry flavors in a web of fresh, bright tannins. Barrel sample. - James Suckling 93 Points
Scheduled to be bottled in October, the 2016 Chateauneuf-du-Pape checks in as a mix of 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, and 10% each of Syrah and Cinsault. Rounded, beautifully textured, and full-bodied, with terrific complexity in its incense, dried flower, cedarwood, and assorted red and black fruits, it should benefit from short-term cellaring and offer over a decade of prime drinking. - Jeb Dunnuck 92 Points
