E. Guigal Gigondas 2016

E. Guigal Gigondas has a pretty purple colour. Intense nose with dominant peach and apricot aromas, opening to notes of liquorice and earthy undergrowth. Generous, robust and powerful on the full-bodied palate. Cranberry, cherry and plum flavours with clove, pepper, leather and liquorice accents. A frank attack and direct expression with structured tannins and a lively acidity. Closes in a long, elegant finish.

70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre. The fruit comes from vines with an average age of 40 years. The vineyard is on hillsides at the foot of Mont Ventoux, directly north-east of the town of Orange in the southern Rhône Valley. The dry, stony slopes have ancient alluvia and red clay soils with gravel.
The wine sees a traditional vinification and lengthy maceration. Ageing for 2 years in oak foudres, of which 50% was new.
Ageing potential: 10 years
 
We've got another treat from E. Guigal: E. guigal Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2017
14.5%

AWARD & ACCOLADES

- 95 POINTS
 The finest effort I’ve tasted from this estate’s Gigondas, their 2016 is a drop-dead gorgeous wine that competes with the best in the appellation. Loads of framboise, lavender, garrigue, and hints of game emerge from this sweetly fruited, full-bodied, powerful yet elegant Gigondas. It’s beautiful wine and I continue to believe that 2016 is one of the greatest vintages ever (if not the greatest) for the Southern Rhône.

This wine is sourced from vines averaging 40 years old and matured two years in oak (50% new). Gravitas and structure set apart Guigal’s 2016 Gigondas from its more zaftig peers. A delicately smoky, peppery blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre, it offers blackberry and plum flavors that are ripe yet piercing. It’s muscular and sharply edged, marked by brisk acidity and lingering hints of tobacco leaf, earth and clove. Approachable now, the wine should improve through 2030.

Guigal's 2016 Gigondas offers up a luscious mouthful of pomegranate and raspberry fruit. Sourced from higher elevations within the appellation, it's full-bodied and velvety, but it retains a paradoxical sense of lightness and remains easy to drink, adding hints of garrigue on the finish.

Deep, glistening red. A complex, highly perfumed bouquet features red berry and cherry preserve and spicecake qualities, along with hints of incense and smoky minerals. Displays a suave blend of richness and energy, offering sweet black raspberry and cherry pie flavors and a touch of candied lavender. The floral note carries strongly through the impressively long finish, which is framed by harmonious tannins that fold effortlessly into the wine's plush red fruit.