2010 Gigondas La Louisiane

The 2010 Gigondas La Louisiane is a 525-case offering fashioned from 65-year-old vines grown in decomposed red clay and gravel. It is also a blend of 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre aged in foudre for 14 months prior to being bottled without fining or filtration. It offers sensational notes of blueberry liqueur intermixed with kirsch, mulberries, licorice and lavender. Full-bodied and sexy with good acidity as well as sweet, well-integrated tannins, this beautiful, virginal (because of the biodynamic farming and lack of any new oak aging) red should drink nicely for 10-15 years. One of my favorite Gigondas estates is proprietor Joel Saurel’s Saint-Damien (now one of the appellation’s superstars). Saurel also produces several Cotes du Rhone cuvees that are nearly as good as his superb Gigondas. The 2011 Cotes du Rhones, which were bottled early to preserve their fruit, are about as good as Cotes du Rhone can be in this vintage. The 2010s are close in quality although not quite at the level of the finest vintage I have ever tasted from Saurel, his 2007s. Importer: Peter Weygandt, Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

Always the most elegant of the three Gigondas cuvees, the 2010 Domaine Saint-Damien Gigondas La Louisiane (80% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, and the balance a mix of Cinsault and Syrah) boasts perfumed floral, rolled stone minerality, and violet characteristics intermixed with notes of garrigue, mint, and ripe Grenache-driven fruit on the nose. This full-bodied, structured, and mouth filling 2010 has a seamless, poised texture, brilliant concentration, and a firm, tannic core. It should be cellared for a handful of years, and will be long lived.

(80% grenache, 15% mourvedre and the rest cinsault and syrah): Bright purple. Intensely perfumed bouquet of ripe dark berries, cola and licorice, with a smoky topnote. Broad and supple in texture, offering densely packed blackcurrant and boysenberry flavors lifted by tangy minerality. Delivers a wallop of ripe dark fruit on the clinging finish.