2016 Gigondas Le Claux

Starting off the single vineyard releases, the 2016 Gigondas Le Claux is legendary Gigondas in the making. Incredibly elegant and finesse-driven, it boasts a deep ruby/purple color to go with incredibly floral notes of camphor, dried earth, black currants, and spice. This Burgundian beauty boasts full-bodied richness, a deep, layered, heavenly mouthfeel, building tannins, and again, an incredible floral quality. I absolutely love it.

All Grenache, the 2016 Gigondas le Claux comes from a parcel of vines planted around 1880. It's got an incredibly floral and tea-like nose, followed by expressive red berries, even fraises des bois. Full-bodied, silky and long, it manages to be an epic wine, not for its power but for its elegance, finesse and complexity.

Brilliant ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red berries, cherry pie and candied lavender, along with a smoky mineral overtone that builds in the glass. Shows intense, impressively concentrated Chambord, floral pastille and spicecake qualities on the palate, which are enlivened by a jolt of juicy acidity. Closes with repeating florality, building tannins and outstanding, red fruit-dominated persistence.