93pts Decanter

Darkly coloured. Lovely sense of freshness, florality and herbal detail. Fairly full and rounded, quite mature already. Mouthfilling, sweet ripe fruit and a long finish. Has a slight, agreeable usticity to the texture and feels authentically Gigondas. Unpolished. No destemming, aged in foudres and demi-muids.

90pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2021 Gigondas is terrific, with the textbook wild, feral vibe in its darker cherry, basil leaf, spring flowers, and sappy garrigue aromas and flavors. Despite its green herb edge, it’s not vegetal at all and has medium-bodied richness, a pure, vibrant, elegant mouthfeel, nicely integrated acidity, and outstanding length. This is one of those wines that will grow on you over the course of an evening, and it's going to shine on the dinner table as well. Enjoy bottles over the coming decade. The blend is the usual 78% Grenache, 14% Syrah, 6% Cinsault, and the rest Mourvèdre, from 40- to 70-year-old-vines. One quarter was destemmed, it saw 18-21 days on skins, and was mostly aged in older oak foudre but a small part in demi-muids.

Blend: 78% Grenache, 14% Syrah, 6% Cinsault, and the rest Mourvèdre

Vineyard Notes

Domaine du Cayron (Roseline, Cendrine, and Delphine) are the fifth generation to run this historic 40-acre estate in Gigondas. Most of the Cayron vineyards are found at an altitude of 300-400 meters, sitting in the shadow of the formidable Dentelles de Montmirail, where only about 25% of the Gigondas appellation is found. The family embodies the concept of one domaine, one wine, wherein all of the grapes from the 60+ year old vines go into one single cuvee. Fermented in concrete tanks built into the floor of the winery, the wine is then aged for two years in large foudres that date back more than 50 years. The sisters have an uncanny ability to transmit the aromas and flavors of garrigue (the mix of herbs that grow wild in the south of France) more clearly that perhaps any other winery in the region. The vin de garde’s unique profile speaks so clearly of place, it can only be seen as the true embodiment of the term “terror-driven wine”. Always affable and delightfully energetic, the sisters are too humble to admit what is clear to all who enjoy their wines: this is one of the finest properties in all of the Rhone.

Sustainable