The Appellation which certainly succeeded best. The old Grenache vines in Les Dentelles did not suffer coulure badly. And this feels ! The Wine is dense, concentrated, a trifle austere. The most experienced Vignerons completed harvest by the end of October…
Presentation
The vintage
2013 recalls vintages of the early 80s, with wines of heterogeneous quality. Most striking feature: the old vine did not, as is the rule, make the difference. Exceptional... indeed, some sectors suffered a lot, with a historically low harvest, due to "coulure" but also to the extreme cold of the preceding year. Therefore, the old vine had trouble ripening its - too scarce - grapes : it kept on growing, thus « forgetting » its fruit. Another observation : it seems that vignerons who pruned in March succeeded better.
With regards to 2013, as you will have understood, detecting the “right” areas was even wiser than focusing on the very old vines exclusively. This is the approach which we operated. Harvest : the unusually cool and rainy spring has, from the start, conditioned the year, imposing a late harvest - in october... In some sectors, it was only completed on October 29th. and some of our partners who have vineyards at higher altitudes, cooler, early November !
To date, our wines display beautiful colours, with a distinguished, fresh fruit. A touch of austerity, with tannins which can be marked on some "cuvées". Not the shadow of a doubt : here are wines which call for "élevage"! And, if they lack, for the time being, a little harmony and roundness, they appear very "trendy", as though they had been designed for some markets in demand of wines that are fresh, yet typical, balanced, yet with moderate alcoholic degrees...
With regards to 2013, as you will have understood, detecting the “right” areas was even wiser than focusing on the very old vines exclusively. This is the approach which we operated. Harvest : the unusually cool and rainy spring has, from the start, conditioned the year, imposing a late harvest - in october... In some sectors, it was only completed on October 29th. and some of our partners who have vineyards at higher altitudes, cooler, early November !
To date, our wines display beautiful colours, with a distinguished, fresh fruit. A touch of austerity, with tannins which can be marked on some "cuvées". Not the shadow of a doubt : here are wines which call for "élevage"! And, if they lack, for the time being, a little harmony and roundness, they appear very "trendy", as though they had been designed for some markets in demand of wines that are fresh, yet typical, balanced, yet with moderate alcoholic degrees...
Terroir
Le Pourra, la Boussière, les Garrigues, les Dentelles.
Type of soil
Calcarious.
Ageing
12 months in one vintage old barrels. Allier and Tronçais. Then 12 months in foudre.
Winemaking
100% non distemmed.
Varietals
Grenache : 90%
Mourvèdre : 5%
Syrah : 5%
Mourvèdre : 5%
Syrah : 5%
Specifications
Alcohol content : 14,5% % vol.
Bottling : Without fining and filtration.
Age of vines : Grenache: 70 to 100 years. Syrah and Mourvèdre: 40 years. years old
Advice
Serving
14°C
Decant 1 hour before tasting.
Decant 1 hour before tasting.
Tasting
The Wine is black, the scents of laurel and garrigue already stand out : a sheer marvel!
Reviews
"Blueish crimson. Meaty and somehow reminiscent of lacquered Peking duck. Contained and concentrated with real structure and very refined, focused fruit. Cool finish. A serious wine that should age very well. Very ambitious. Not a jot of heat."
"More firm and structured than the Vacqueyras (which is to be expected), the 2013 Gigondas Vieilles Vignes offers up an array of toasted spice, graphite, licorice and sweet black raspberry fruit. This flows to a medium to full-bodied, firm, structured and focused Gigondas that has enough tannic grip to warrant short-term cellaring. Nevertheless, it has impressive concentration and is a rock-solid effort that will have 10-12 years of longevity."
"Réussite magistrale du complexe millésime 2013. "
"Le gigondas s'impose par un supplément d'étoffe, d'élégance et de finesse avec un joli grain en bouche."
"Very solid, with a fleshy core of steeped plum, blackberry and boysenberry fruit that has melded nicely with the singed cinnamon, black tea and dried anise notes."
"Bright violet. Spice- and mineral-accented aromas of fresh dark berries and candied flowers, joined by a building hint of smokiness. Velvety and appealingly sweet, offering concentrated boysenberry and cherry compote flavors and a hint of spicecake. Spreads out very nicely on the finish, which features fine-grained tannins and an echo of lavender pastille."
"Entre élégance naturelle, finesse de grain et parfaite lecture de leurs appellations respectives, les vins présentés confortent notre idée selon laquelle il s'écrit ici un hommage aux grands vins du Rhône."
