Gigondas 2010

AOP Gigondas Red

Awards

92 pts Wine Spectator
90 pts Wine Advocate
16,5/20 Jancis Robinson

Tasting

Dark, black cherry colour. Very open and generous nose of black fruit (black cherry, plum) and earthy spices. Quite imposing structure, long and complex with a mineral finish due to the sandy-marl soils. A vintage of great class and distinction, built for cellaring. (May 2014)

Food & wine pairings

Rack of Veal with morels and roasted potatoes
Braised Duck with porcini mushrooms and baby vegetables
Roast Venison sauce “Grand Veneur”

Detailed information

Vintage

With a particularly cold winter, flowering began around the 20th May. The ripening of the grapes took place under ideal conditions with a summer that was hot and dry. In September there was alternating rain and Mistral wind, allowing the grapes to mature beautifully and in perfect condition. Harvest started the 30th Sept for the Syrahs and 6th Oct for the Grenaches and yield was around 23hl/ha.

Grape varieties

50% Grenache, 50% Syrah

Terroir

A blend of two terroirs:

Syrah from “La Jasse”, on limestone scree and marl from the Cretaceous period at 400m. alt (1300ft) in the Dentelles.
Grenache & Syrah from the “Montmirail” zone in sandy marl of the Oligocene period at 150m alt (500ft)

Winemaking

Havested manually with crushing and full destemming. Punching down of the cap with up to 3 pump overs a day and 15 to 25 days of maceration/fermentation depending on the tank. Run off and separation of the free-run and pressed wines. Malo-lactic fermentation and then reintroduction of a portion of the press wine. 18-month “elevage” with the Grenache in tank and the Syrah in oak barrels (mix of new, 1 year and 2 year barrels).

Bottled at the estate on April 2012
Production: 13.000 bottles