2014 Gigondas Charms While 2015 Stuns

BY JOSH RAYNOLDS | SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Fans of elegant, accessible southern Rhône wines will find plenty to like from the 2014 Gigondas’ while 2015 produced a plethora of outstanding, attention-grabbing and cellar-worthy wines.  

Followed as they are by the often monumental, soon-to-be-legendary 2015s, the 2014s, from a generally difficult vintage, are bound to suffer by comparison, which will inevitably set the stage for price reductions. That’s tough luck for everyone in the supply chain except consumers, who should be able to score some serious deals as numerous fabulous bottlings were made in 2014. 

Gigondas and the looming Dentelles de Montmirail

The Southern Rhône’s Graceful Side 

The wines of Gigondas are prized by many Rhône fans – this one included – for their relative elegance compared to the usually weightier and higher-octane wines from neighboring Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Vacqueyras. Gigondas relies heavily on Grenache, and typically displays red fruit flavors with floral and spicy lift, a beneficial result of the fact that a large percentage of the appellation’s best vineyards are in cooler, higher-elevation sites. While many producers age the Syrah and Mourvèdre components of their wines in small, sometimes new oak barrels, Grenache is usually fermented and raised in large concrete, stainless steel or neutral oak vats, which allows the fruit to take center stage. Virtually all of the producers I see on my annual visits to Gigondas take great pains to emphasize that they would like their wines to be known for their balance, complexity and finesse rather than for brute strength or flamboyant character. As Thierry Faravel, who makes some of the finest examples of Gigondas (and Vacqueyras, for that matter) at his family’s Domaine la Bouïssiere, told me, “Gigondas isn’t a bulldozer or a monster truck wine; it’s more like a sports car - okay, a sports SUV.”

The Challenges of 2014